Little Loyalty
by MissNata13
Summary: Falling was never this difficult nor this easy. JONAS joe/macy. Co-writer suburbs
1. Chapter 1

**Horrah! I'm back and I'm starting off with a different fandom that I hardly dedicate stories to. JONAS. Let's see. It's a Joe/Macy (if you're not a Jacy fan...give it a try). I'm already done with this story so updates should be steady (because I won't have to stress over writing another chapter when I just posted the last chapter...if that makes any sense). And I got some feedback and it seems like this might be a pretty cute story to follow (nudge nudge wink wink).**

**Enjoy.**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter ONE- Ice Staking**

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Is it remotely possible to ever forget someone?

Right now I wished there was some type of mind-eraser machine that could permanently remove Joe Lucas from my head because everything that I'd been feeling recently had to be wrong. It _was _wrong. I've always supported Stella and Joe, and I secretly wished they would fall in love so I could be maid of honor in a JONAS wedding. Imagine what an honor _that _would be. I never told Stella about that dream because up until now she would have thought I was stupid for thinking they would make a cute couple because in her words they were just good friends. Now, ever since they've been together, though, my willingness to support their relationship has vanished.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing a JONAS in love. It's like watching snow melt into puddles when the spring time comes. Magical and mystical. And the great thing is that it seems to spill over onto all the brothers - Kevin's cheeks are always sporting a pink tint, Frankie has stopped his scheming and Nick smiles. He SMILES. If that isn't magical then I might have been wrong about magic all these years. But Joe, even though he's with Stella, he's missing something, and I'm guessing it's the magic that happens when two people are really in love.

And I'm the only one who seems to think that there is something wrong.

I don't even understand why I'm so sure something's missing. I've witness their gooey, mushy, and sickening interactions and on the surface it looks like they're in love. There is no doubt in their minds that they are, but I can't help but wonder what Joe's like when he's really in love. Because I know JONAS, and I know that there is something off.

But maybe I'm just a little bit biased.

In case you haven't already figured it out, I've fallen for Joe too. I didn't realize it at first because I've always been such a devoted fan. Of course I loved Joe…and Kevin and Nick too. But after weeks of watching the new couple Joe and Stella, I had to wonder why my chest ached when they held hands under the lunch table or they shyly flirted.

Falling for him happened gradually and luckily, I wasn't jealous of Stella. I love Stella. She's my best friend, and I have always been a very loyal person. I would never do anything to harm her; that's not who I am, but that didn't stop me from wondering how Joe's hand would feel in mine again.

You read right.

_Again._

Stella invited me to go ice skating with her and her family at the end of February before the rink closed for the year. I wobbled around in some awful fitting stakes that I had to repeatedly adjust, surrounded by Stella's family who were all skating circles around me. In the midst of dodging her loud cousins and her lively aunts and uncles, I saw Joe and his brothers walked into the entrance and I was side tracked. Of course being distracted while trying to relearn skating ended in disaster. I nearly ran over Stella's smaller cousins but successfully avoided them all; unfortunately I swerved around dangerously on the ice and slammed right into the wall. When I opened my eyes, several heads hovered over me, each letting a sigh out of relief.

"She's alive." Stella's shoulders slumped in relief, "Thank goodness. Macy what were you thinking?"

I sat up slowly and avoided looking at Joe who had an amused look on his face.

"I don't know what you mean." I answered.

Stella rolled her eyes, "I'm still having a hard time comprehending how you could hurt yourself on the ice. Weren't you in hockey? If I remember correctly, you skated rings around the competition."

Funny she should mention that I was in hockey. I _am _very good at hockey and skating on ice should have been a breeze, but there is a huge between hockey and figure skating. My hockey skates are enormous. They are padded very tightly and give me extra support around my ankles which, believe it or not, happen to be very weak since I've sprained both of them (at different times) in track meets. The pair of skates I was using were a size too big for me and my ankles started wobbling the moment I stepped on the ice. Plus, I wasn't used to the stupid toe picks.

"I wasn't paying attention, and I almost ran into one of your cousins." I explained.

"You were trying to avoid them, right?" Joe peered into my eyes, "I saw you swerve right before you slammed into the edge."

I felt my face flush with embarrassment, "Yeah, but I'm fine now. There's no need to worry. Stuff like this happens all the time."

Kevin frowned, "Do you want to skate with us? We just got here."

Stella was quick to answer for me, "Kevin you can't be serious! Let her rest! The three of you-" She pointed at the brothers. "-Shoo, I'll stay with Macy while you have fun."

"No, I'm fine," I piped up. "Stella go skate. I'm going to get some nachos or hot chocolate anyways. I don't need company and it wouldn't be fair to have you babysitting just because I was clumsy enough to almost hurt myself. Really, go."

Stella gave a long look before she nodded and waddled over to the rink in her skates. I watched her glide over the ice for a second before I took off for the concessions. When I returned with my nachos and hot chocolate, I noticed Joe sitting on a bench watching people skate by. I noticed that most of the time his eyes were on Stella, which really shouldn't surprise me. They're together, right?. I sat next to him, placing my food on my lap ready to devour my food. I glance up at Joe who gave me a warm smile and pointed at my hot chocolate.

"Can I have some?" He asked.

I nodded before devouring a chip. Joe sipped my cup and held it in his hands. He hung his head and lightly kicked the skates that were propped up next to his feet.

"Why aren't you skating with Stella?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I was but I don't want to skate until you're out there."

I wanted to clean my ears out. Did he just say that?

"Nick and Kevin didn't believe me when I said I wanted to race with you around the rink and that I would win," Joe explained. "Sure, you might be really good at everything sports related, but I have naturally longer legs and that gives me an edge over you."

I giggled, "You wanted to race me?"

"I only compete with the best," Joe said bluntly.

I rolled my eyes, "Why don't you just skate around with Stella? You know, do the couple thing, hold hands, and accidentally fall on each other?"

"That isn't nearly as exciting as watching you eat my ice dust," Joe said arrogantly. He raised his eyebrows mockingly at me.

"If you're trying to provoke me into racing you, it isn't working," I frowned. "Besides, it wouldn't be a fair race. My skates don't fit me, and I'm not used to these _things_ they gave me."

Joe smirked, "Excuses."

"Do you think I wear a size 8?" I challenged.

"Maybe."

"In men's?" I lightly tossed one of my stakes at him so he could see. Joe's lower jaw was firm. He was quiet for a moment until I triumphantly grinned at him.

"Is that why you slammed into…"

I nodded, "Yeah, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you're here and she's over there. Honestly, you should go skate with Stella."

"Do you think they have a smaller size so you could skate?" Joe looked over at the stand where they handed out the rented skates. The huge rack behind the vendor was still empty. Joe slumped over and crossed his arms. I had a feeling he was trying to find a way to get his way. Somehow, they way he pouted won me over. I couldn't resist his adorable demeanor when he was trying to hold in that he was upset.

"I'll race you," I announced, thinking that would cheer Joe up. He still appeared grumpy.

"You're just being nice," he mumbled. "And I'm sure you'll let me win just so I can be right for once. Well don't do me any favors."

I slipped on my skates and shrugged, "Suit yourself. Last one on the ice is a rotten egg."

I stumbled on my feet trying to hike my way over to the edge of the ice. Before I stepped on it, Joe zoomed past me and circled me twice. Just like before, I wobbled around barely able to stay on my feet. I had to try and balance myself over and over again to reach Joe on the other side of the rink where he was waiting patiently for me. When I reached him I put on my game face and glared at him.

"Ready to lose?"

Joe just looked at me, so I ignored him and decided to begin the countdown for our race, knowing that I had no chance of actually winning. But I figured it would make him happy.

"On your marks, get set, GO!" I yelled.

Before I took my first disastrous step, Joe held me back. His grip was on my elbow as I turned to look at his stern face. He didn't say anything. He just slipped his hand into mine and helped me skate along slowly and smoothly.

Joe and I were doing something usually reserved for couples and nobody seemed to care all that much. Not even Stella. I'm not sure if she just trusted us both so much that she knew that there was nothing to be jealous over, or if she just never considered me as a possible threat. Either way, a lot went through my mind in those moments of hand holding: guilt that I was enjoying the moment more than I should; curiosity over whether Stella's hand fit perfectly in Joe's like mine did; and worry that Joe could feel my racing heartbeat through my hand. Then I started to mock myself. How could I get so excited over holding hands with a friend? How could I foolishly believed that hand holding with Joe was the best thing ever? I knew he was just trying to be nice; there was no way that he was enjoying this as much as I was. And while I looked up at him, admiring him, Joe steered me away from Stella's many cousins, keeping me from a trip to the ER.

"Watch it there," Joe steadied me.

Then it hit me. I knew what Joe would be like when he was really in love – he'd be cautious. Not personally cautious but he'd be cautious with those he cared about. He'd still be that reckless ball of energy most know him for, but in love he'd be a much tamer version of himself. If he was this protective of someone he saw as a friend, when he loved someone, he would want to wrap them up in bubble wrap and make sure nothing bad every happened to them.

And if that wasn't magical then it must be divine.

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**Many thanks to suburbs who gave me some great feedback and beta this. I must send a virtual hug to her because she found a way to make this story even better. For those who know her, you can expect that great fluffy romantic touch injected into this. So first chapter is out of the way...**

**Thoughts?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Another update all thanks to suburbs. If you read this and get that fuzzy feeling inside because of the cuteness factor...that's all her, not me.**

**Enjoy.**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter TWO- The Stellavator**

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Just when I had finally gotten over the feeling of Joe's hand in mine, Stella had to go leave me alone at the firehouse. The Stellavator had broken and I came over to help Stella sort out _everything._ And those boys seriously had a massive wardrobe. Usually I wouldn't have minded swimming in a pile of JONAS clothes, but that night just the sight of Nick's rack of shirts in all shades of purple made me dizzy. It was nearing midnight and I was in the closet up in the attic; I had finished sorting clothes into piles - have been recently purchased, made by Stella, never used, or used so much it needs some TLC by Stella's sewing machine, and I had moved on to hanging things up. I wasn't sure how long I had been up there by myself. Stella had left me alone to go yell at Joe for using a vest that she had strictly told him to use only on red carpet occasions. I felt my eyes drooping. I was going to kill who ever messed with the Stellavator. I could have been home watching clips of the golfing tournament I had missed earlier or sleeping.

I looked at my watch to check on the time again and my eyes swept over the room. It was a mess. A mess I couldn't imagine would ever end. There was a huge pile of dirty clothes in the middle. I still had to finish off hanging all the slacks they use for school, making sure to separate Nick's, Joe's, and Kevin's pants in order of fit and usage. And she had also wanted us to shine Kevin's boots, iron Nick's plaid shirts to a crisp, and make sure Joe's collection of Ray Bans were placed in color order. I groaned. Why did Stella have to be so meticulous? And where _was_ Stella?

Suddenly, everything went pitch black. I scrambled to my feet and aimlessly ran to the door. Of course, that meant tripping over piles of clothes and landing on the only part of the floor not covered in clothes. I gasped when I felt a burning pain on my knees. I must have scraped them but it was hard to be sure because the lights were out. As I sat on the floor wondering about the damage, the lights turned back on and footsteps raced over to me. It was Joe. Who else would it be? My life was cursed.

"I didn't know you were still here," Joe apologized. He looked down at my scrapped knees and gasped. "God, Mace - that looks like it hurts. Let me go get something to patch you up."

Joe was just about to leave when I called out for him. I didn't even mean to. It was a reaction. Joe stopped dead in his tracks when I said his name. I carefully got to my feet and brushed away a strand of hair away from my face.

"I'm fine. I should get back to work. I don't want Stella to come back and find that I haven't gotten to the ties and cuff links." I joked.

Joe cocked his head, "Stella? She's not coming back until the morning. She went home to fix the vest I accidentally tore."

My mouth slightly dropped, "Stella left? When?"

Joe shrugged, "Two hours ago?"

I groaned. I wasn't upset with her; I'm pretty sure she was raging mad at Joe for the vest and just completely forgot about me. But she was my ride.

"Great, I should have taken that nap that I was too afraid to take," I mumbled to myself. "I should get going. I don't want to keep you up."

"How are you getting home?" Joe asked.

I paused. I wasn't sure. I couldn't call my mom; I knew she'd rip my head off for staying up. It was way too late to walk home, and there was no way I was asking Joe to give me a ride.

"I could give you a ride," Joe started, "But I kinda lost my driving privileges for rear ending a state trooper."

I laughed, "You lost your driving privileges?"

Joe shot a glare at me, "Driving is harder than you think." Then he looked back down at my knees, and he sighed, "I'll be back."

Joe jogged out, and I just stood there in the exact same place I had been since I managed to get myself up off the floor. I took a deep breath and doubled checked if there was anything I needed to fix on Nick's purple shirt rack. I scanned over the school uniform section and quickly fixed a thing or two before Joe appeared again.

He carried a first aid kit. Joe grinned up at me before opening the box and taking out antibacterial ointment and a couple of bandages. He ordered me to sit while he would make everything better. After he smeared the ointment and wrapped both of my knees he proudly beamed at me and winked.

"All better." He announced.

I laughed, "You know if this fame thing doesn't work out for you, the medical field is calling out for you."

Joe smirked, "I _do _look good as a surgeon."

We locked eyes and for a few seconds I thought he'd discovered what I'd been hiding. I tore away from his gaze and looked around. I still had no clue how to get home and funny enough, I wasn't so tired anymore. I was fully alert and totally aware of the awkward gap of silence.

"You know you really should be more careful," Joe said suddenly. "You could have really hurt yourself stumbling around in the dark."

"I know," I muttered. "I panicked a little."

"Next time you're in trouble, call out. You knew I was around here somewhere. I would've come to save you."

I wasn't sure how the conversation turned so serious, but there was something about his voice that made me swallow hard. Stella was so lucky to have someone like Joe. Trying to lighten the mood I asked, "Fancy yourself a superhero, Lucas?"

He laughed and flexed his muscles, "I am pretty super."

"So you do want to put all that superness to work and help me?" I asked. A plan was forming in my mind to help him fix things with Stella. "If you help out, I'm sure Stella would be really impressed. Imagine all those bonus boyfriend points you'd get."

"Boyfriend points?" Joe asked, "Are those real?"

I shook my head, "No but she'll think you're sweet for helping out after you destroyed her vest."

"Just for your information, it wasn't my fault. I went to Frankie's talent show and I took it off just before we got trampled by fans. Stella knows that any clothing damaged by fans is out of my control, thus it isn't my fault." Joe said crisply, obviously glossing over the fact that he wasn't supposed to be wearing the thing in the first place. But I thought it was sort of adorable he thought his little brother's event was on par with the red carpet. "And I'll help out but not for the boyfriend points."

I smiled, "How about we grab those dirty clothes and head over to the wash room."

Joe nodded, "Done! Shall we separate the colors and whites now or later?"

"Now," I bit my lip. "There aren't a lot of whites other than all your v-necked shirts and some socks."

"Oh and if you find any underwear, they're Nick's." Joe added turning slightly red, "I don't use white underwear 'cause I'm a man, you see."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever you say."

And so I spend the whole night with Joe. It wasn't a scandalous rendezvous or anything; nothing Stella would need to be worried about. We kept busy by concentrating on all the clothes that still needed to be sorted. Joe and I folded the washed clothes, ironed the one's that needed ironing, and continued hanging clothes. Nick woke up around 4 in the morning to see what all the noise was about, but I think he was too sleepy to care that I was around. All he did was mumble something about wearing his salmon polo shirt on Sunday for church.

Joe snorted when Nick left, "Salmon. He's the only person besides Stella that has a massive vocabulary for colors. There's only blue, red, yellow, green and orange for me. There was one time I had to sit through a conversation between Stella and Nick about how oatmeal and cream are not the same color. I didn't know there was such a thing as a color named oatmeal. Who names a color after a food?"

"Joe, orange is named after an orange." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but you don't hear people calling a red "apple" just because apples happen to be a shade of red." Joe pointed a hanger at me, "And if you say there's a _candy apple _red color I'm going to ignore your statement because it's redundant."

I scoffed, "So what's the color of your shirt? A mixture of green and blue?"

"Yes," Joe grinned. "That's what it is. A mix of green and blue. It's not _teal_. It's not _sea foam green_ or _turquoise_. It's a plain greenish bluish shirt and that's final."

I laughed. Although I understood Joe's stand on colors, it was so like him to go to the extreme. I was sure he'd had plenty of tiffs with Stella about colors; in fact his stance was probably just to annoy her. He seemed to get some sort of absurd pleasure from getting her all riled up. And insisting that all greens were the same would certainly push her buttons.

"Fine," I sighed hanging up yet another white shirt. "But do you really need fifty white shirts? Why not try a cream colored shirt? It would be a nice change right about now. Plus, oatmeal would go really well with all the navy blue work out shorts you own."

Joe cracked a smile, "I'll pretend you didn't say that. And so you'll stop complaining, you can have one of my white shirts."

My eyes widen, "I didn't mean that. I was joking."

Joe walked over to the half finished rack of white shirts and tossed me his signature t-shirt. I lightly ran my fingers through the worn fabric and bit my bottom lip.

"You don't have to." I whispered, "Just 'cause I'm a fan and all."

"Macy. You're not just a fan." Joe swung his arm around my shoulders and led me over to Kevin's boots. "You're a really good friend and a great girl."

"Thanks." I breathed out.

"You're welcome. And just to show you that you're part of the JONAS clan, I'm going to make you a cup of Joe-made coffee, Joe offered.

I smiled and softly thanked him again. I sat down to begin shining Kevin's boots just as Joe left to make the coffee. I was so absorbed in cleaning the first pair of boot's that I almost didn't hear Joe joke that he didn't have fifty white shirts. He had exactly forty-seven. There's a three count difference.

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**Thoughts?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright all you phantom-readers. I know who you are. Not that I don't enjoy people reading my stories, I just feel confused when you alert it and not bother to drop a review. A simple "I like it" would suffice. I'm shaking my fist in the air if you can't see. Anyways, like I promised my updates should be continuous, there won't be any long 5-day gaps between stories because I already finished it. Aren't you dying to know what happens.**

**Enjoy.**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter THREE- Fights**

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Stella was just as pleased as I had hoped when she saw the closet the next day; Joe was promptly forgiven, and she had no idea that the two of us had stayed up all night to make it possible. But that wasn't the end of the Stella/Joe fight drama. I remember one night when I was over at the firehouse helping Kevin put together a puzzle for Frankie's wall, and suddenly the house was filled with the sound of yelling coming from upstairs. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore the fight that was storming on above us. Nick cleared his throat and took out a freshly baked pie from the oven. I shook my head and continued helping Kevin with the edges of the puzzle. We were nearly finished when Stella slid down the fire pole, snatched her purse, and slammed the front door. Joe didn't come chasing after her like he usually did. I looked back and forth between Nick and Kevin. They didn't look too concerned over the situation. It was probably because they were so used to the arguments, or maybe because they didn't want me to worry over it.

But how could I not worry? I wanted to know what they were fighting about and how it had become so heated that Stella would stomp away like that. Nick cleared his throat, tapping his fingers on the kitchen counter impatiently.

"Who's going to see if Joe's alright?" Nick asked.

Kevin scoffed, "Not me."

"And don't expect that a twenty dollar bribe will work this time." Frankie said as he dipped his finger in the whipped cream Nick was using for his pie. "No amount of money would make me listen to him whine again."

"Well I'm not going to do it," Nick announced. "Last time I asked what the deal was, I had to control the Tasmanian devil we call a brother before he destroyed the piano."

Kevin scoffed again, "He ate all _my _cookies."

"Well at least he didn't talk to you about his life problems and how girls can complicate things. He cried on my shoulder! I can't use my favorite shirt anymore. It's tainted!" Frankie licked his finger and walked off, "Nice puzzle."

I felt too inadequate to offer to check up on Joe. If he reacted that way with his brothers, I can't imagine that he would hold back with me. After all, I'm Stella's friend; I'm sure he wouldn't want to see anybody that reminded him of Stella at this moment. I picked up a puzzle piece and placed it with a mismatch. I frowned as Kevin took my piece and matched it up with its correct partner. I gave up helping Kevin and just sat there wondering if I could help out at all. Should I even be concerned with Joe? Maybe I should have chased after Stella to see how she was. I was beginning to feel like a lousy friend as I sat at the table starring at Kevin's half-finished puzzle.

"Can I talk to Macy?" A voice asked. My head snapped up and looked at Nick because I figured he had to be the one talking. Nick narrowed his eyes at something behind me and Kevin. I turned to find Joe standing there, his anger still etched on his face. I mistook Joe's voice for Nick - what an amateur fan mistake. I would seriously lose my JONAS super fan title if anyone knew.

"Alone?" Joe snapped.

Nick and Kevin gazed at me in wonder as I sat there in shock. Joe was asking for me? A flood of thoughts raced through my head. Did Stella find out about Joe's shirt or our all-nighter? Was Stella even the jealous type? No, she wasn't. She was the exact opposite of the jealous girlfriend; plus she couldn't have found out about the shirt because I never wore it…well I did during my sports' practices which Stella never went to.

Nick and Kevin slowly abandoned their spots and hiked up the stairs, never taking their eyes off of me. I'm not sure if they were curious as to why Joe asked for me or if they feared for my life, but they were making me very nervous.

I suddenly became very interested in the puzzle I had just abandoned. I'm not sure why it was so hard to look at Joe right then. Maybe it was because I loved to see him happy. His infectious laugh ringing in my ears every time he cracked a bad joke could make my day, so for me it was hard to see him angry or sad. Anybody who knew Joe had to be heartbroken to see him like this.

"What do you want to talk about?" I gulped.

Joe walked over to Nick's pie almost as if he hadn't heard me. He had his back to me and I wasn't sure if I should ask again. When he turned around he had two plates of pie in his hands, and he placed a slice right in front of me. My eyes flickered up to Joe's. He smiled weakly at me and sat down.

"You heard the fight didn't you?" He asked.

I nodded and watched him toy around with his pie with a fork.

"I think it's stupid, don't you? Fighting over stupid things," Joe gave me a helpless look.

"I…" I trailed off, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well you heard, right?" Joe asked again.

I closed my eyes, "I heard but I didn't listen."

"What's the difference?" Joe asked.

I ignored him, "So what was it this time?"

Thankfully Joe didn't press on about the differences between hearing and listening, "She's stressed because of some event coming up. I don't understand why she always seems to pick a fight with me when she's already stressed. It's just creating more unnecessary stress."

"She can't find something perfect to wear for it?" I asked. I felt so left out of things; I didn't know Stella was going to any events. Did she mention it, and I, being a horrible friend, didn't pay attention?

Joe shook his head, "She can't go because it's a no-guest thing. She wanted to give us another go and use the event as a date so we could try to sort things out but-"

"What?!" I shouted. At least I hope it sounded like that; my mouth moved but the sounds were caught in my throat. Did Joe just insinuate that he and Stella had broken up? "What do you mean _give us another go_? You guys broke up? When? Right now?"

Joe shook his head, "Like three weeks ago? It was mutual. But that's when the fights started. If I would have known we were going to be at each other's throats I would have never agreed to take some time off."

I felt a melancholy feeling seep into me. Not because I felt bad that Joe and Stella were no longer together but because Stella hadn't bother to tell me that they were no longer together. We were friends right? She should have told me. Had I done anything to make her doubt our friendship? I quickly scanned the past months and found nothing that could have ruined us.

"Why?" I asked.

"Stella's going to Italy for an internship after school ends," Joe shrugged. "When she found out it sparked a five hour talk most of which I don't remember, but I know we decided it was the best decision for now. When she comes back we can pick up back where we started or we won't. Either way, we were supposed to stay friends."

Another blow. I had no idea Stella was going on an internship… to _Italy_!!! She must have a pretty darn good excuse for not telling me about that. Every time I tried to make up an excuse as to why Stella wouldn't tell me, I got more upset. Was I such a terrible friend that she couldn't share something that important with me? I shoved my pie away. I wasn't hungry; not even a freshly baked pie seemed tempting.

"She's stressed because she's trying to update up her portfolio, manage styling us for this event, finish off the year with straight A's, and arrange a girls night with you so she could tell you this in person…instead of finding out like this." Joe winced because he just let out a secret he was supposed to keep, "She's been super busy, that's all and when she's busy she usually forgets a lot of things and that makes her snappy, more specifically snappy at me, and thus the fighting is born."

"What was the fight about this time?" I said feeling a bit better.

Joe smirked at me, "Colors. Apparently, I can't identify the difference between _lilac _and _lavender _to save my life."

I snorted, "Nick's shirts?"

"I was helping her put Nick's suit together and it escalated from there." Joe sighed, "Arguing with you is much more fun. You don't yell as much."

I closed my eyes trying to suppress the butterflies that erupted in my stomach at the compliment, but it was impossible. How could anyone not fall victim to his unintentional charm? He was just a big kid - a big irresistible, alluring, off-limits kid.

"So why did Stella want to get back with you?" The question slipped my mouth before it got to my _maybe-I-shouldn't-ask-this _filter.

"I think we both miss having each other around but she's is having a harder time with it than I am," Joe shrugged. "She said she needs a support system right now, and apparently I was doing a shitty job of helping her. I won't deny that I wasn't much help, which makes me a bad friend, huh?"

"No," I shook my head. "It just sounds like you're trying to sort out your own feelings and right now you don't need to be her support system."

Joe sat up straight, "I don't?"

I stood up and grabbed my things, "Nope, because that's why she has me as a friend."

As I stood to leave, Joe put his hand on my arm. "Don't feel bad that she didn't tell you, Mace. She's just totally stressed right now. You're a great friend to her, and she knows that."

Just like that, I stopped worrying about whether or not I had done something wrong. There was something about him that was comforting. Now it was my turn to go do some comforting.

I smiled at him. "Thanks Joe."

I quickly took the plates of pie that he had grabbed for us and took them with me as I headed out the door, knowing that they would be put to better use where I was going.

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**Thoughts?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Kendra. It's a 3000 plus chapter. Hold on to your reading glasses. And the reason for a big chapter is because this was originally two chapters and now it's morphed into one so we can get back to that Jacy fluff you all love.**

**Enjoy.**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter FOUR- Mending**

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On my way over to Stella's I made sure I picked up several movies, magazines, treats, and a funky nail polish color to surprise her with. If she wanted a girls' night with me, I wasn't going to let her stress over it too much; I would just take matters into my own hands. If she managed to tell me anything about the break-up, Italy, or her internship, I'd pretend I'd never heard about it before and be shocked and happy for her.

"Stella?" I called loudly, wishing I didn't have so much stuff in my hands. It was making it impossible to knock on the door. "It's Macy! Open up!"

The door creaked open to reveal a tear stained Stella. She pouted for a moment before bursting into tears and hugging me. I have excellent balance from years of gymnastics, but she was making it hard for me to stay on my feet.

"Mace! I'm such a bad friend!" Stella cried. "I'm horrible! And I'm so stupid."

I dropped a couple of things from my arms, purposely, in order to hug her back and remain upright. I rubbed her back with my hand and smiled. "Stella you're a great friend." I assured her.

"I'm not!" She protested. "I haven't told you so many things! And I don't know why I kept them from you when I should have told you the second they happened. Now look at me. I'm a mess because I can't do anything right."

I led Stella to her bed and handed her a chocolate bar. She wiped away the fresh tears and tore open the wrapper. It was then when I decided to be honest with her. She was my best friend, and the last thing we needed was more secrets.

"Stella, it's okay. I know about the break up," I brushed her bangs away from her eyes. Sure she had hurt me, but this wasn't the time to bring it up – real friends didn't hit you when you were down. "You should have told me about you and Joe because you needed me. I'm your best friend; I would have been there for you."

Stella's face blanked out, "I didn't mean to keep it from you. I was just busy with school and-"

"The event that the boys are going to?" I finished off.

"How did you know?" Stella asked.

I shifted uncomfortably on her bed, "Well I talked to Joe…"

Stella frowned, "I bet he's glad he's not with me anymore. I've turned into a monster."

"No, he knows you're under a lot of stress," I explained. "And he understands everything more than you'll know. What he doesn't understand is why you pick fights with him when it stresses you more."

"I didn't plan on picking a fight. I just missed being with him," Stella sourly laughed. "Can you blame me if I wanted him back?"

"No," I shook my head. "I know what you mean to each other." I tried to think of something to say that would cheer her up. "But I've heard that Italy has a nice selection of men."

"You're ri-" Stella perked up. "You know about the internship too? And you're not mad?"

I shrugged, "After Joe explained everything, it was hard to be mad at you. But it does seem like you need me more than you thought you did. Now, I brought movies to watch and other crucial elements for girl bonding time, but it seems like what you need most is to finish picking out those outfits for those boys. So let's get that out of the way so we can have some fun."

Stella shook her head, "I can't go back there. I'm too embarrassed."

"If I text Frankie and ask him to clear his brothers out for the day, will you go back?" I asked.

I grinned while Stella contemplated. She took a bite out of her chocolate before shaking her head. I sighed. How could I get her to go back to her work?

"Don't ask Frankie," Stella pouted. "He'll run our piggy bank dry if we do. How about Kevin?"

I smiled and hugged Stella, "I'm on it."

Convincing Kevin was a breeze. He didn't question why I asked him to leave the front door unlocked or why he had to leave Frankie without a babysitter. He just promised he would do what I asked and take Joe and Nick to spend the day at the amusement park. Stella and I pulled the hoods of our sweatshirts over our heads and tried to disguise ourselves JONAS-style with sunglasses. The moment I told her our plan was a go, Stella and I zoomed out of her house to get to the Lucas' before they left. We hid behind a shrub and watched the front door. We had been sitting impatiently in the bushes for several minutes when Kevin finally bounced out of the door, heading to his SUV with Nick dragging Joe along behind. The moment Kevin drove away, Stella and I sprinted to the front door only to be greeted by Frankie.

"Hello there, ladies," he said slyly. "The boy's aren't here. You just missed them."

Stella and I exchanged glances. "We know," I said. "We're here for some unfinished business. We needed the boys out of the way so Stella could work comfortably, and I'm here to help things run smoothly."

"Give me one reason not to call my brothers." Frankie crossed his arms.

I pushed Stella towards the boys' rooms. She gave me a look and I shooed her away. I did say I was here to make sure things ran smoothly, didn't I? I figured I could at least handle a little kid.

"You're my favorite Lucas," I smiled.

Frankie scoffed, "Nice try. Joe's your favorite."

I frowned. How did he know that?

"I can teach you how to play any sport," I offered.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not an athletic type of guy," Frankie said with a grin. "I'm an entrepreneur."

"I only have ten dollars." I begged, "I'll do anything."

Frankie gave me a mischievous side grin, "_Anything_?"

I regretted that statement as soon as it left my mouth. He might only be eight, but he's by far the smartest eight-year-old I'd ever met. Nick might think he was the smartest Lucas, but Frankie was way more devious. For all I knew he might decide to keep me as his slave for years, but there was no backing out now. I cleared my throat, crossed my arms, and mimicked his poise of superiority.

"Anything." I confirmed.

Frankie tapped his pointer finger on his chin, cocking his head to the side, "What should I ask for? An update on the Frankie Page on your website which, by the way, you haven't been on in months? Or how about telling me what happened that night you stayed over all night with Joe?"

I froze. He was evil. I pressed my lips together.

"Pick." I choked out.

"What _did_ happen? Joe won't talk about it so something _must _have happened." Frankie narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "I bet you two were up to no good."

I sighed, "Nothing happened. That was the day the Stellavator broke; I was helping Stella organizing everything. Your brothers left a huge mess."

"So why did you stay over all night?" Frankie questioned.

"I was going to asked Stella for a ride," I said trying not to let my fear show. "But she left and forgot about me. Joe discovered I was there around midnight. He couldn't take me home because his driving privileges had been taken away, and no one else was awake. So we just kept cleaning up. I didn't plan on staying up all night. It just happened. Plus, Stella was really happy that the job was done when she came by the next day."

Frankie frowned, "That's all?"

I nodded, making sure to look him right in the eye. Somehow I knew that he would sense if I was lying, but it was the truth. Everything about that night was totally innocent.

He groaned and stomped to his room, "That was lame. I wasted all that time interrogating Joe when absolutely nothing interesting happened!"

I sighed, grateful that I was in the clear and could go up into the attic and help Stella get the outfits ready. I jogged upstairs into the boy's room, figuring Stella was already up in the attic by now. I entered the Stellavator by a ladder and poked my head into the large room. Stella was sitting on the ground in front of rack of suits. I climbed up the remaining steps of the ladder and approached Stella who was bent over her sketching pad writing notes down. She stayed quiet so I assumed she was busy concentrating. I looked over to the suits and cocked my head. I knew instantly Nick would claim the dark grey suit. I looked over at Stella's notes and discovered she thought so too. She had most of Nick's outfit done, but she was struggling with Kevin's and Joe's.

"Is it a formal event?" I asked.

"Semi-formal," Stella mumbled, still not taking her eyes off her work.

"So jackets are optional?" I asked.

Stella nodded and quickly jotted something down before she scanned the room. I sat there patiently waiting for her to give me something to do.

"So when are you leaving for Italy?" I finally asked, trying to calculate the amount of time I had with Stella. I needed to know so I could start to plan our sleepovers, shopping trips, movie nights, and spa appointments. Most of the things on that list weren't really my style, but Stella loved them and I'd do anything to spend some quality time with her before she left.

"In a month," Stella sighed before adding. "Are you planning any more all-nighters with Joe soon or are you going to wait until I leave?"

My mouth dropped. Damn you Frankie.

"You over heard?" I asked shamefully. I had no idea why I felt so guilty considering absolutely nothing happened; maybe it was because I kept it from her.

"I stuck around for a while just in case you needed back-up." Stella said with a frown. "Why didn't you tell me? Of course I should have guessed; you were wearing the exact same thing the next morning and you were there before me. You hardly visit unless I'm here first."

I bit my lip, "I didn't tell you because I wanted you to think that Joe did all the work. I thought it would help you two."

Stella scoffed, "That's a bit cruel, Mace. Trying to paint this nice picture of a perfect Joe… It was nice at the time, but you and I know he can't live up to that. Plus, you didn't need to help him… _all night_."

"_He_ helped _me_ out," I corrected. "And it was the only option I had other than sleeping over."

"Well you practically did." Stella sourly said.

"You know what I mean, Stella." I snapped. "And remember you're the one who left me there with no ride home. I couldn't call my mom, Joe couldn't drive, and everyone else was asleep. And I knew you would appreciate how much we got done in the morning."

"But did you have to lie?" Stella closed her eyes, "You know I don't mind you around Joe. It bugs me that you would think you couldn't tell me about it, especially since it was partly my fault."

"I'm sorry, I apologized. "I didn't think it would be a big deal because it made you happy no matter who cleaned up the mess, and he needed the points more than I did. I promise I won't do it again."

Stella nodded and pointed at a pair of light grey slacks, "Kevin or Joe?"

I smirked, "Definitely Kevin."

She smiled, "You read my mind."

That was one great thing about my friendship with Stella – once we talked through an issue, it was done. We were able to let it go and just focus on coordinating outfits for the boys; Stella and I were on the same page again…kinda. The only thing she probably should have known was that I'd been harboring a crush on Joe, but if I let that information out, none of what we just fixed would be fixable…ever again. Sure I felt guilty; it was something she should know. Joe was her man and since we shared everything (but boys), she had the right to know. Except that since I knew I would never act on those feelings, it seemed better to keep this information to myself.

As I thought about my Joe issue, I sifted through Nick's purple shirts and pulled out a soft plum colored one. I looked at it and held it up for Stella to see. "How about this one?" I asked.

Stella stood up and walked over to examine the dress shirt, "It's Nick's. I already have a maroon one for Nick."

I nodded, "I know. What about Joe? Purple would work…right?"

I always doubted my fashion sense around Stella; her taste was impeccable, and I knew I could never live up to that. She stared at the shirt for another minute or two before her face broke into a grin.

"With a cream skinny tie? No. An argyle sweater. No. A black vest! " Stella talked to herself, "Oh my God, that would be perfect! And he could rock that sloppy half tucked in shirt look! Thank you, Mace!"

She raced over to the other half made outfits and squealed, "Macy! Get me some black belts!"

I headed to the accessory corner and pulled out an armful of black belts. I looked through them and hesitated.

"Leather?" I called.

"Yes!"

"Chrome buckle or opaque?"

"Opaque!"

Well that narrowed it down to ten belts that all looked exactly the same to me. I didn't waste time weighing my options; I grabbed three random belts and shoved the rest back in the drawer before walking back to Stella who was criticizing her own work. She was searching through another selection of shoes when she looked up at me.

"Can you please hide Joe's white Ray Bans?" Stella asked. "I just have a feeling he's going to reach for _them_ at the last minute and my look is completely fine without his sunglasses."

"Should I hide Kevin's cowboy boots too?" I asked just to make sure.

Stella laughed, "Yes and while you're at it, Nick's collection of bow ties. Please."

I laughed and gladly took up the three boys' favorite items. I called for Frankie downstairs and asked him to hide it all. He didn't even ask why – he just saluted and marched off, grinning as he began his search for the perfect hiding spot.

Stella stepped back to admire her work. She patted down her frizzled hair and crossed her arms. I could tell she was proud and usually when Stella was proud that meant JONAS was going to be on a Best-Dressed list somewhere. It never failed.

"Macy, I think we make a great team. Are you sure you want to be an Olympian? I think you have a calling in the fashion industry," Stella teased.

"I wouldn't trade the gold and glory for anything," I replied arrogantly before starting to laugh, "Unless you plan on stuffing me in your luggage so I can join you on your adventure in Italy…I could live with that. Clothes aren't that bad."

Stella laughed with me, "I wish I could. I already know I'm going to have a hard time. How am I supposed to learn Italian in a matter of weeks?"

"You'll pick up the language as you go along," I suggested. "And when you make a fool out of yourself speaking Italian, I'm sure some stud will think you're adorable for butchering their language."

Stella smiled, "Thanks."

We hugged each other tightly before collapsing on the ground, exhausted after our fashion adventure. We lay on the ground looking up to the slope of the ceiling, saying nothing. I just wanted to enjoy the moments I had left with Stella. Who knew when we'd have another chance to get to stare at the ceiling in Lucas' attic again or lightly talk about what Stella was going to do without me in Italy over the summer. She planned on traveling when she wasn't needed, hopefully to France or Greece. Certainly made my plans of lifeguarding at the local community pool seem pretty tame.

Somehow our summer plans morphed into a discussion about important girl things like first kisses and first boyfriends and first heartbreaks.

"Heartbreaks?" Stella scoffed, "Phil Connor was my first heartbreak in eighth grade. He left me for some girl in the seventh grade who thought pleather pants and a pheasant blouse made a great outfit."

"Sounds like someone's bitter," I teased.

Stella crossed her arms, "I guess they did make a better couple. He had bad taste in girls and she had bad taste in clothes. It worked out."

I laughed, "You do know that since he dated you, his bad taste in girls would include you, right?"

Stella frowned, "You're not funny Macy."

I thought I was pretty funny and giggled for awhile before finally apologizing. I smiled at my friend and told her she had always had a great sense of everything- fashion, boys, and friends.

"Macy, you know I'm a sucker for compliments." Stella pouted.

"I know," I shrugged. Since there was a natural break in the conversation, I figured it was time to bring up the question that had been bothering me all night. "Can I ask you something?"

Stella nodded, "Shoot."

"Why exactly did you break up with Joe?" I asked. "I know it was mutual, but long distance relationships have worked before. '_Absence__ makes the heart grow fonder_', wasn't just invented because it sounded nice."

Stella shrugged, "After I found out about the internship I started thinking. Three years is a long time to be away from somebody."

The internship was three years long? Why did people keep insisting on leaving out the important details?

"And when I told Joe, it was like we both knew we should end it. I didn't really want to but I couldn't be selfish and keep Joe to myself when I'm three-thousand miles away. That's not a real relationship. Besides, if it's true what they say about true love, then it won't matter if we break up. No matter what we do, we will somehow find our way back to each other. That sounds super cheesy when I say it out loud but it makes sense in here." Stella pointed her heart. "I know there's a risk of losing him, but at the same time… should I pass on the opportunity of not only working the field I love but also discovering myself while I'm at it?"

She left me speechless.

"And I'm certain I'm supposed to take advantage of this internship. It's a once in a life time thing, Macy. I get to work with haute couture designers, collaborate with fashion magazines, attend runway shows every weekend, and drown myself in work. It's been a dream of mine to do half of the things I'm doing now and I'm not sure if I'm ready to let go of those dreams for love right now. I'm young. It's going to find me one way or another and if won't matter if I'm here or in Italy."

"Joe would follow you wherever you go," I added softly. I honestly thought that if Stella asked him to wait or to come along with her, he would drop everything to keep going as long as they could make it work.

Stella pressed her lips together and let out a long sigh, "Maybe. But even if he would, there's no way I would ask him to stop pursuing his dreams just so I could live mine."

"Are you afraid?" I asked.

Stella let out a nervous laugh, "I'm afraid of everything. I'm scared I won't be good enough. I'm scared that I'll get lost in a foreign country. I fear that I might not see anyone again…"

I opened my mouth to assure Stella everything would turn out fine but the sound of someone clearing his throat caught my attention.

"Hellllloooooo there, ladies."

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**Thoughts?**


	5. Chapter 5

**So here's a dose of Jacy. I want to mention that I have a twitter 'cause I felt the need to tell you... i'm not that interesting to be honest. More of my updates consist of chatting with friends and random thoughts. Care to follow? Anyways, hope you like this chapter. **

**Enjoy.**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter FIVE- Gone**

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"Kevin!" Stella sat up, "Hi, I just um finished up styling your look for the event."

Kevin smirked, "I know. We _all_ know. Oh and Nick wants to know if he can wear his paper boy hat."

Stella shot me a look and I defensively held up my hands, "I don't know. I didn't tell Kevin what we were doing. He didn't ask so I thought it was still a secret."

"Oh yeah, but you forgot the Frankie factor – he's tricky. I stopped trying to buy his silence after I gave him my prized teddy bear just so he wouldn't tell Nick I broke one of his drum sticks. He only follows the exact directions you give him, so he said showing Nick where I hid the sticks wasn't the same as telling him I broke them. And Frankie won't give me my bear back." Kevin said with a pout.

I raised an eyebrow at the babbling guitarist in front of me, not sure how his story related to the current situation.

"He told you he wouldn't call us – so he sent us a text," the oldest Lucas brother explained.

I'd have been mad at the little guy if I wasn't so impressed by his deviousness. It only took me a moment to realize that Stella wasn't hearing any of what Kevin had been saying. She scrambled to her feet and her eyes nervously darted towards the entrance to the Stellavator.

"I should go." Stella said.

I held her back before she ran out of the attic, "Stella, you should talk to Joe."

"There isn't really much to talk about other than to apologize for freaking out on him," she explained with a sigh. "Which I'll do right now, but then I really need to get back home and work on my portfolio."

Stella started to walk across the room and was about to climb down the ladder when she hesitated and turned to me, "I need you to help me this Friday. Can you be there? Changing a toddler is much easier than changing these guys. Oh, and please, please hide all Nick's hats."

I grinned, "No problem."

Stella threw a glance at Kevin before she left. Kevin shoved his hands in his pockets and whistled loudly, looking around at the racks of clothes. He spotted the three outfits that were neatly hung on their special event rack and he pointed to them.

"Is that it?" Kevin asked. "Do you think I can wear these boots I have instead of-"

"No Kevin," I shook my head. "Changing anything would be a direct violation of the Stella Style Statute. Besides, Stella and I worked really hard on putting this together. I think you don't appreciate all the hard work that goes into dressing you."

"I do too. Scouts honor," he held up his hands like he was swearing an oath. "I know I'm going to be a fashion disaster when Stella's gone. I'm not oblivious to the fact that she's so tense when we're about to step on a red carpet or jump out on stage. I know it's hard work, and I'll bet you'll appreciate her even more after Friday. "

I cocked my head, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well you are going to help her, right?" Kevin smiled, "You'll see what I'm talking about."

And I did see what he was talking about. Stella in her frantic pre-event routine was a whirlwind of motion and scolding. And she was right - they were harder to dress than toddlers. Nick kept arguing with Stella about his missing bow tie collection, while Kevin was tried to slip on some spare boots he had for the occasion. I was helping Joe put on his vest when Stella gave Kevin a death glare.

"Is it always this bad?" I asked.

Joe shook his head, "Not really. She's more keyed up than usual. I talked to her last night, and she said her parents are giving her a hard time for getting her GED and going on the internship instead of finishing up school. But you know Stella, once her mind his set, it's hard to change it."

I shrugged, "It's still hard to do things without a blessing from mom and dad. I know that it has to be hard on her to disappoint them even if she knows she's doing the right thing."

Joe beamed down at me and I nearly had those fan girl moments. If I hadn't focused on knotting his tie, I would have been on the floor- on account of fainting. Because when he smiled at me like that, I felt like the rest of the world just faded away and there was only the two of us. And that's why I couldn't continue pretending that it was fine to have a crush on Joe. It was one thing to crush on a celebrity you were never going to meet, but it was something entirely to feel like this about your best friend's ex. He was forbidden. And just seeing him smile made me go weak in the knees and start imagining moonlight serenades and picnics in meadows.

That made me a bad friend.

So you can imagine how stern I appeared while I tied Joe's tie. I already feel guilty for carrying around these feelings; I felt a million times worse imagining what it would be like to have him smile at me like that while he held my hand again.

And then it took me a moment to recuperate because my mind went blank thinking of the cold, scarves, and ice skating.

"What color is this?" Joe smirked at me, "Indigo? Mauve?"

I looked up at him and frowned, "It's plum."

Joe scoffed, "Of course it's _plum._"

"A light shade of plum to be exact," I informed him. "Stella said it complimented your hair color."

"Stella Smella." Joe fidgeted and kicked his foot around, "The only other person that can pull off purple as well as I can is Barney."

I snorted and smoothed down his vest, making sure there wasn't a wrinkle in sight, trying not to enjoy the way my hands felt on his chest.

"NICK PUT DOWN THAT HAT!" Stella yelled. I winced and looked over my shoulder to find Nick rolling his eyes at my best friend as she snatched his hat right off his head. Nick whined and muttered something incoherent.

"What was that Nick?" Stella asked with her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Nick frowned, "I said I was going to miss you when you leave."

Stella blew a strand of her loose blonde hair out of her face and looked around. Five full minutes passed before Stella sighed a big sigh and hugged everyone.

"God, I hope you guys have fun. Your ride should be here soon, and Macy and I should get to that avocado mask." Stella grinned at me, "And my dad finally fixed the hot tub Macy. We can take a dip, relax, drink fruit slushes, relax…"

I had been looking forward to our girls' night before, but after two hours of dealing with the boys, a hot tub and an avocado mask sound like heaven. We all made our way downstairs and said goodbye. Nick quickly hugged me and jumped into the car. Kevin jokingly mentioned some spare boots he kept in the car, causing Stella to threaten him with bodily harm. Joe pressed his lips together and scratched the back of his head. He slowly approached me and gave me a hug that lingered even after he was long gone. I was dazed and ashamed that I was weakening and I couldn't even keep strong in front of Stella.

And keeping strong only got harder from there.

The month I had left with Stella flew by, and before I knew it I was watching my best friend pulling around her two enormous suitcases at the airport. I stood by myself waving to her, long after she was out of site on the other side of the security checkpoint. I wasn't sure how I was going to survive my senior year without her. I figured I could make it through summer, but school was going to be lonely and torturous. At least during the summer I would have the boys around, but they had just announced another world wide tour that would eat up more than 5 months on the road. It was sort of hard to be someone's support system when you were traveling around the country performing to sold-out crowds.

I took a deep breath and headed out of the airport and spent my day in my room taking down my old JONAS posters; who needed posters when I had the real thing around. I smiled weakly at the images of the three of them. Stella had made them promise to spend time with me, and they had already called to make plans.

I quickly realized that while spending time with the three brothers was amazing (even if they were only hanging out with me because they promised Stella), they couldn't fill the void Stella's departure had left in my life. Who could I talk with about girl issues? Was Nick really going to let me sob on his shoulder every time I watched Titanic? Could Kevin sit through a five-hour long phone call about nothing in particular? And I doubted that Joe would be volunteering if I needed to unload the weekly gossip on someone.

Stella had _promised_ to be always a phone call away, but I think she forgot about the six hour difference in time zones. Every time I woke up, she was having lunch with her new group of friends. When I was at lunch, she was out running errands or at a small get-together. After I got out of work, I was sure she was sleeping like a rock so I didn't bother calling her. It was rare that I caught her in her free time or she caught me in mine.

And then when we did talk, I felt like she wasn't listening to me. She was so excited about her new life, that mine must have seemed dull in comparison.

"_Macy you wouldn't believe the things I get to see! Oh, and the food is sooo good. You __have to__ come visit me. I __want __to show you this place called Little Italiano. It's great. Oh and if you must know, I can't speak Italian to save my life. I tried talking to my boss and she couldn't help but laugh at me! I don't blame her; I'm kinda pathetic at learning new languages unless it's a designer name or something. So what about you Mace? How's your summer so far?_"

I bit my lip and looked across my room. Joe was watching TV with a huge bowl of popcorn on his lap.

"Oh, it's alright. It's only a week in so I don't have much to go on," I said. "I'm actually here with Jo-"

"_Oh Macy, I just have to tell you! There's this gorgeous guy that works a small restaurant that I always go to. Not Little Italiano. The other other one I told you about. He's the type of guy that makes you melt with just a glance. It's kind of like a mellower version of your fan girl moments with JONAS. You feel nervous, shaky, a little sweaty, and this explosion of butterflies._"

My mouth dropped, "That's great! What his name?"

Stella sighed, "_I don't know! God I wish I could ask him but he never waits on my table._"

"Well I think Joe misses-"

"_Darn it, I have to go. The boys are ok, right? Tell them I miss them and I'll see them soon. I heard they added a date on their European tour and guess who has backstage passes? ME! Just don't tell them! I want them to be surprised!_"

"Promise." I sincerely said. I quietly hung up soon after Stella had to rush off.

"You just missed Jack saving Rose who was about to jump over the rail." Joe said, handing me the bowl of popcorn as I sat next to him. It had turned out that while Nick hadn't been up for Titanic, Joe had happily agreed to watch it with me (and had even brought a box of tissues).

I smiled weakly; for once not even Leonardo could make me feel better. I missed my best friend.

"Hey, cheer up Mace," Joe said, nudging me in the side. "I know you miss her, but it'll get better. Plus, you've got me. And I'm totally amazing."

"And humble," I deadpanned, already feeling a little happier. Being around Joe had that effect on me.

"So true," he replied cheekily, grabbing a handful of popcorn and shoving it in his mouth.

We went back to watching the movie, and I realized that while it was bothering me that Stella never seemed to have time for me, it was more than that. It almost seemed like she was over Joe – that she had moved on already. And then there was Joe, who had just been his regular self lately. No post-breakup depression. No outburst of hooking up with random rebound girls. Nothing. It was confusing. I seemed to be the only one who wanted the two of them to hold on to each other.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about them being with other people.

I took a good look at Joe and sighed. He may have been back on the market, but I knew there was no chance that I'd be the next girl to take him off.

And somehow I already hated whoever that girl would be.

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**Thoughts?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's chapter six. So with Stella gone and all what is Macy going to do? Grin. And this is where you skip my ramblings and start rieading.**

**Enjoy.**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter SIX- Thursday**

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Summer was going on smoothly. I worked, slept, and hung out with the Lucas clan every now and then. I really couldn't complain. If someone would have told me I would be spending my summer like this two years ago, I would have fainted and then scolded the person for messing with my mind. Summer days with the Lucas boys… who wouldn't kill to be in my shoes?

Kevin and I frequently met for popsicles down at the park. I think he loved to talk to me just because I was the only one who didn't put down his crazy ideas. Sometimes it is just the two of use, but most of the time one of the other brothers (usually Frankie) tags along. Like the time he said he wanted to build a time machine to go back in time so he could enjoy his Popsicle again; his brothers would have laughed at him, but I fully supported the idea. Popsicles are awesome. For Fourth of July, we both gobbled down so many of them that we got ourselves sick. It was fun though. And then I got to sit next to Joe during the fireworks display.

Nick and I fought over baseball teams until we had the crazy idea to settle our differences out on the field. Nick and Kevin versus Joe and I. I don't think I have to explain in detail how we won, but Joe and I did an amazing victory dance. Nick wasn't very pleased, but I think he actually liked the challenge because he keeps showing up for games every weekend even though his team has yet to win.

When I plan something with Joe, it always seems to be just the two of us. We go on endless drives around the city or just lie down on his rooftop at night and listen to his iPod. Sometimes I would feel myself blush when we would accidentally touch or he would absently play with my hair. I wasn't even sure if he knew he was doing it, but I was pretty sure he had no idea the effect he was having on me. And every time I'd blush or feel my heart-rate speed up around him, I'd feel guilty. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed spending time with Joe, but that tiny voice in the back of my head kept telling me I was doing something disloyal.

So overall, summer was going great; even my job was fine. There were moments when I wished I was doing something else, but I couldn't complain. I was saving money to secretly go to one of their concerts. I might be a friend of JONAS, but I was still a huge fan and there was nothing that was going to change that. I knew that if I asked, they would give me the tickets, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to ask. Instead, I was going to spend my summer in the hot sun trying to keep kids from running around the pool.

I hadn't heard from Stella very much over the summer, so when she called one day while I was working at the pool, I decided to take a small break. I was hiding in the bathroom listening to Stella tell a story about how she had just received a rack full of clothes for finding the model who took a pair of very expensive boots, when my chat was abruptly interrupted. My boss swung my door open while I pathetically looked up from the toilet seat. I slowly closed my phone and nervously giggled.

"Just checking up on…" I gulped, realizing I had just hung up on Stella without even saying good-bye. "Some stuff."

"I need you out there." My boss crossed her arms, "There's a reservation for a pool party that I need your help with. You're in charge of the kiddie pool."

I groaned and marched out of my stall. Not that I don't like kids, but monitoring the kiddie pool was my favorite activity. I hate being the fun-ruiner, blowing my whistle every time I see two little boys wrestling in the water or girls that are hogging the slides.

But instead of complaining, I shoved my hands in the pocket of my bright red shorts and head outside, reminding myself that I was lucky to have the job. I glanced around to see if I could spot the pool party, hoping that maybe there wouldn't be too many little kids. Last week there had been a birthday party with twenty-preschoolers all splashing and screaming, and it had taken me three days to recover. But instead of toddlers in floaties, I immediately noticed three recognizable faces who all seemed to catch sight of me at the exact same moment. Nick politely waved, Kevin motioned for me to come over and Joe… well Joe skip the hand gestures and ran right up to me.

"Hey! I forgot you worked here!" Joe squinted at me behind his Ray Bans, "This is great! You're here for my birthday party! I was going to invite you but you said you had to work today, so I didn't." He flashed me the smile that made my knees for weak.

"But it's not your birthday yet." I corrected. I should know. I knew almost everything about them, and even before we became friends I had all their birthdays circled on my calendar.

Joe shrugged, "It's an early birthday party. It lands on a Tuesday this year and Tuesdays are pretty lame so I decided that my party should be on a Thursday."

I closed my eyes, "What makes Thursday so much better than Tuesday?"

"Because it is!" Joe argued. "Everyone knows Thursday is just too cool to be a day of the week. See when I become a successful actor I'm going to change my name to Joe Thursday because every serious actor has a serious name and Thursday is definitely serious."

"Why is Thursday serious?" I asked.

"Because it's my birthday!" Joe exclaimed.

I began to laugh a little too hard to remember to breathe. Joe can be quiet a character at times and he never fails to surprise me with his humor. After my face returned to its normal color, Joe pointed to the whistle that hung around my neck.

"Spiffy!" He winked at me, "Where can I get one of those? It's almost as serious as a police badge."

I let out a laugh, "What are you talking about? How can you compare a whistle to a police badge?"

Joe kept his face straight, "It's a shiny symbol of authority. Where can I get one? Do I have to sign on as a lifeguard to get one? And would you think less of me if I quit as soon as they handed it over?"

I rolled my eyes, "Joe I'll talk to you later. I need to go work for a change."

Joe frowned, "Alright but I'll be here all day. Don't forget about me!"

I walked away and climbed my tower that overlooked the kiddie pool before looking over at Joe who had just rejoined his family.

"Don't worry Joe. It's almost impossible to forget you," I muttered to myself.

The rest of the day dragged on. It was a hassle to be constantly running after kids or jumping in the water to retrieve car keys that some rascals threw in. But I did enjoy watching Joe's family having a good time together. When the cake was brought out, they invited me to come over and sing Happy Birthday to Joe with them, which I thought was fairly brave of them considering past events. Now, I have gladly sung to Joe in the past years in the comfort of my bedroom where no one could actually hear me, but I felt inadequate singing in front of the professional singers. Joe sat in front of his lit cake as Kevin and Nick snuck up behind him and placed a crown on top of his head. Joe beamed. Nick began singing, and everyone else quickly followed.

I sang quietly to myself.

After everybody had walked away with a piece of cake in their hands, I carefully approached Joe who was busy enjoying his own piece of cake. He patted the seat next to him, obviously wanting me to sit down. I knew I couldn't accept because I was still technically working but I gave Joe a small present before I bounced off to my tower.

I had given him my whistle. I knew he would love it; the only problem was going to be explaining to my boss what had happened to the important piece of safety equipment she had given me. It was the main way for me to get people's attention out there and defuse situations before they became dangerous. I had been hoping she wouldn't notice that I was yelling instead of whistling, but it didn't take long for her to catch on. Flustered, I made up this whole story about how I it must have fallen off when I jumped in to rescue the car keys and that someone must have taken it.

I lied, which I wasn't proud of, but if I told my boss the truth I knew she would make me take Joe's gift back and I really didn't want to do that. I had given it to him, and I knew he would be confused if I asked for it back. So as I stood quietly listening to my boss yelled at me, I watched Joe waiting for me outside. I walked out alive and well with a new whistle in my fist. After ordering me not to lose this one too, my boss stomped away leaving me alone with Joe. He stood up, and I held out my new whistle to show him it was all good.

I was surprised to see him frowning. "What's wrong?"

He turned and looked at my boss' retreating figure. "Does she always talk to you like that?"

"Huh?"

"She was yelling at you," he said, starting to sound angry.

It was actually sweet that he was upset for me, but I was worried that maybe he would feel so bad about me getting in trouble that he wouldn't enjoy the gift. And if I was going to have to put up with my boss' lecturing and sighs for the next few weeks, I really wanted him to like the thing.

Shrugging, I said, "She's just a little high-strung. Probably too much time in the sun. Normally she's pretty cool."

He looked at me intently, and it started to make me feel self-conscious. Finally, I gave him a nervous smile and asked, "Did you like your present?"

He must have realized that I really wanted to change the subject because he grinned at me. "It's awesome. I'm already planning several ways to use it to drive Nick crazy."

"Great," I said sarcastically. "You're family's going to lynch me."

"But I will be forever grateful," Joe said. "And to show you how grateful I am, there's a spot on the couch waiting for you and me to watch a movie alone at my house. Are you in? I'll make popcorn."

"Alone?" I asked, "Where's the rest of your family? I thought they were still here."

"They left for a visit to see Grandma," Joe said. "But I told them we already had plans and that you'd drive me home."

I smiled, "Still can't drive?"

"Nope." Joe shook his head. "Now let's go. Popcorn doesn't pop by itself."

"How exactly were you planning to get home if I had something else I had to do, Lucas?"

He grinned at me, "I knew you wouldn't let me down."

I laughed and gestured towards my car. He was right; there was no way I would have left him there, no matter what else I might have been planning to do. Joe and I walked close together as we headed to the parking lot, so it wasn't a surprise when our hands bumped into each other. But instead of keeping our distance, like we always did, Joe intertwined his fingers with mine.

---

**Thoughts?**


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I'm nothing going to spoil or hint anything. For those who know me usually know that... well... you should just read.**

**Enjoy.  
**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter SEVEN-Losing**

**---**

I was stretched on the couch, lazily yawning as the movie progressed. I usually love watching movies, but I just couldn't seem to concentrate on the screen with Joe so close to me. I kept sneaking glances at Joe who was sitting on the floor leaning against the couch. He was so close, that if I reached out my hand, I could run my fingers through his hair, and just the idea of it filled my stomach with butterflies. And while I sat there totally focused on him, he was busy eating all the popcorn. Admittedly, he occasionally offered me a handful but I always refused; I couldn't eat with the swarm of butterflies inside me floating around lightly, tickling every inch of me.

"What's life like on the road?" I whispered. I thought I had said it too softly for Joe to hear, so I was startled to when he responded.

"Exhausting." He moved his eyes from the television and twisted around to look at me, "But rewarding. I still can't believe we have so many fans and the places we get to see. It's incredible."

I nodded in agreement. Traveling would be nice. I would like to go to the 2012 Olympics in London.

"What's winning a state championship like?" Joe asked.

I smiled, "It used to feel amazing."

Joe nodded and shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. Winning used to be amazing. I could still faintly remember how overwhelming it used to feel, but recently I realized that there were things even more amazing. Just sitting here quietly with Joe was much better than hitting that homerun or crossing that finish line, and that thought scared me.

"When does your tour kick off again?" I sighed. I purposely hadn't check dates or locations yet because I didn't want to be reminded of how my last year of high school was going to be lonely and miserable.

"On the first of September but we're leaving a week early to check out the stage and make sure it's good."

I made my mental calculations and discovered that there was only about two weeks left before they headed out on tour. I frowned. I didn't want to go through months of social solitude. I mean, I _could _make new friends but something told me I wouldn't be as open as I usually was. I just couldn't imagine anyone who could replace Stella or Joe.

"What are you going to do without me?" Joe ask grinning. "I think you can manage without Stella but without me? Sheesh."

"How will I ever survive without you Joe?" I said dramatically, hopefully not letting him know that I was wondering the same thing myself.

Joe got on his knees and faced me. He hovered a couple of inches above me and cocked his head to the side.

"Like this," he said. He held my hand and brought it up to his mouth. I felt his warm breath on my knuckles, "Just hang on to little moments and you'll be fine until I come back."

Having him that close to me was exhilarating and confusing at the same time. I had no idea why we kept ending up like this. Kevin and Nick never held my hand or looked at me the way Joe was looking at me.

"Why do we keep holding hands?" I finally blurted out. "It's weird."

Joe released my hand and narrowed his eyes, "Does it bother you? I'll stop."

I sat up, "Don't you think it's weird that we're doing things like this?"

"No," Joe quickly answered. "Why do you think it's weird?"

I pursed my lips and thought for a moment before I said anything.

"We're just friends, right?" I asked carefully. "Because we are being _really _friendly if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean and I know exactly what I'm doing. But you didn't answer my question? Why is it weird? You like me, don't you?" Joe studied me.

My mouth slightly parted. Did he mean what I think he meant? How did he know? Was it _that_ obvious that I love having him around? It could be the fact that I can't help but smile whenever I'm around him. I mentally scolded myself for being so un-careful about this. I never expected him to figure it out; in fact, Joe finding out about my feelings was about the last thing I ever wanted to happen.

"How did you figure it out?" I gasped. After I said it, I realized that I had just made a mistake. The smart thing would have been to laugh it off or deny it or to assure him I just thought of him as a friend. But apparently I didn't do well under pressure.

"I started to suspect when you stayed here all night to clean up the Stellavator with me," Joe said. "But I wasn't totally sure until we started to hang out this summer."

I felt embarrassed that he'd known for so long. Maybe that was why he'd been so incredibly nice to me. He felt a soft spot for Stella's pathetic little friend with the crush on him. I felt sick and humiliated. I had to get out of there before I broke down in front of Joe. I quickly scrambled off the couch and tried to get to the door, but I was so upset that I tripped over the edge of the table. Normally I could outrun him, but since I stumbled, Joe had no trouble catching up to me before I reached the door. He spun me around and held me. And then I did the one thing that I had wanted to avoid – I burst into tears. And he held me while I sobbed. I wasn't even sure why I was doing crying. Maybe the building guilt had finally gotten to me. I should not have enjoyed spending time with Joe the way that I had this summer. I was a bad friend. I knew that Stella would never forgive me if she knew that I had been crushing on her ex-boyfriend.

All the while I was crying, he was holding me and stroking my hair and muttering that it was okay. And all I wanted to do was stand there in his arms and pretend it _was_ okay, but I needed to get away from him.

I took a shaky breath and gave him a tight hug trying to signal that it was time for me to leave. I let go of him and tried to step away from him but his arms still held me firmly on the spot.

"Is it really that bad to like me?" Joe said lightly, but there was a hint of hurt in his voice. "I thought it would be a pleasant experience."

I laughed shakily, wiping my eyes. "It's not that. I think it's wrong to relate to you as anything more than a friend because of Stella."

Joe finally let go of me, "Stella?"

My fingers fiddled around with the hem of my shirt, "It's a bit shady don't you think? Crushing on my friend's ex-boyfriend? It feels like I'm sneaking behind her back. I should really tell her."

Joe bit his lip, "If you've been sneaking around then you can count me in on being shady too."

I laughed, "Don't be silly, Joe. You can't blame this on yourself."

"Why?" Joe challenged.

I sputtered, "Well… because! You're not the one who's been acting stupid, falling for someone behind Stella's back. You didn't do anything wrong!"

"I have been pretty stupid before." Joe shrugged.

Another laugh escaped me but it quickly faded. What was Joe trying to say? I studied his face, sure he was joking. But he looked serious.

"We'll be stupid together." Joe cracked a smile.

It hit me like a blow to the stomach. Did Joe like me? After putting the pieces together it seemed like he did but I still couldn't believe it. I blushed and looked at my feet, taking a step away from Joe.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked in disbelief.

"I'll tell you if you admit it too." I heard him say. I was staring at my feet, afraid to look up. And then I felt fingers on my chin and realized he was trying to get me to look him in the eyes.

"I can't," I muttered. "Joe I can't."

"Why?"

"Because," I shook Joe's hand away. "You and Stella have unfinished business, and I'm not going to be the one to keep you two apart if there is still something left."

Joe sighed, frustrated at me, "Stella has moved on! Why is it so bad that I might have too?"

I gaped at him, "Because it's with me!"

Wow, I was arguing with Joe about us. Never in a million years did I think there would ever be an _us_.

"Can we try?" Joe pleaded. "Can we please try?"

"Joe…" I began, "There's only two weeks before you leave-"

"-So you see how we're limited." Joe interrupted. "We don't have to make anything official if you don't want to. We'll keep on hanging out for the rest of the summer but at least we would have things out in the open and when I come back we can pick up where we left off."

This was what Stella deserved. She deserved what Joe was offering me. I bit my lip trying to fight back the extreme complex emotions that were causing a storm in me. No matter how much I liked Joe I couldn't think of myself when I needed to think of my best friend.

"I'm sorry Joe. You're wrong," I lied. "I don't like you."

Joe frowned, "Stop it Macy."

"It's the truth." My voice wavered as I began for the door. I was a bad liar and this was no exception. The way he looked at me told me he saw right through me but there wasn't much I could do. I reach for the door knob and I took a final glance at Joe. I knew Joe wasn't going to stop me now but it didn't stop him from tearing my heart into two pieces at the sight of him standing in the same spot.

"I know you're lying Macy," he yelled. "Don't think this ends here."

I didn't look back again as I left. I climbed into my car and revved the engine up just as the rest of the Lucas clan pulled up next to me. I ducked my head and drove off as fast as I could because if they noticed the state I was in there would be lots of questions, and I couldn't face that right now. Because I had just walked away from something I desperately wanted.

---

**It's not like you couldn't see this coming. I could never make things run smoothly. EVER. **

**Thoughts?  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Small side note that has nothing to do with this story- I'm working on Confessions again but before you start dancing, I can honestly say that this is perhaps the hardest story to come back to. I forgot most of the plot I wanted to do and it looks like I have to reread my entire story before I start up again. **

**For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, you can happily skip down to the story. **

**For those that do, hold your breath, I'm doing the best I can.  
**

**Enjoy.  
**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter EIGHT-Lost**

**---**

It was a lazy slow day at the pool. Summer was ending, and only an astonishing three families showed up to enjoy the sun. Well, I think they were enjoying themselves; some of their faces said otherwise. I swung my new silver whistle around hoping it would entertain me for a while, but it only reminded me of Joe. Distracted at the thought of my confusing friend, I accidentally dropped the whistle right into the pool. I groaned. Great. How was I supposed to explain to my boss that I had lost yet another whistle? I climbed down my tower and double-checked exactly where it landed. Luckily, I could see it shining in the shallow end of the pool. Just as I was going to reach in to get my whistle, a hand stopped me from jumping in. I looked up to see Joe smiling at me.

"Hey! I thought I'll find you here." He lifted his sunglasses to get a good look at me.

I closed my eyes when I noticed he proudly wore my original whistle around his neck.

I nodded, "Yeah, just like you found me yesterday too."

"Exactly! Listen come have lunch with me. My mom makes the best chicken salad and she made some especially for me…and you if you want to come along," Joe grinned widely as he tried to persuade me to join him for lunch.

"Joe, I…" I trailed off not knowing whether to reject him or accept. I knew we would have a great time, but I still didn't think it would be a good idea. The thought of him leaving made my chest ache, and going on faux-dates with him was only going to make it worse. Plus, I had already told him that we couldn't be together; it wasn't my fault he couldn't seem to get the message.

"I'm working." I finished, which was mostly true. I was still working, but I was supposed to get off pretty soon. "I can't leave."

"Sure you can," Joe shrugged. "You just don't want to. There's like four other lifeguards here. I'm sure they can handle the work if you leave."

I felt myself slump, "Joe I can't exactly say yes."

"Then say yeah, yup, of course or, better yet, you'll come along." Joe tugged on my arm again, "I won't be here for much longer. Might as well spend as much time with me as you can like you did with Stella."

Everything in me wanted to take that chance and go with him, not worrying what Stella would think. But even though Stella was long gone and the summer was coming to an end, I couldn't. I already knew that I was going to spend most of my senior year alone; I couldn't justify doing something I would be ashamed of later just to hold on to a few pathetic memories. I had decided it would be wrong to get involved with Joe, and I needed to stick with it. Again I politely declined, and Joe walked away without bothering to take his lunch with him.

I felt horrible the entire day.

When I did have a day off, I tried to coax Joe out of the fire house, but he always had an excuse. All I ever got were Kevin or Nick days. Not that I wasn't flattered that they would willingly sacrifice their precious free time to hang out with me (even if it was probably just so Joe could avoid me), but I just wanted to spend time with Joe... as pathetic and cheesy as it may sound.

On one of my Kevin days, we were lazily watching movies in my room when I suddenly had the courage to ask Kevin a question that I already knew an answer to.

"He's avoiding me, isn't he?" I mumbled.

Kevin did a double take at me as if he couldn't believe I had just talked.

"What do you mean?" Kevin nervously chuckled.

I glared at him and sighed, "Nothing. School starts in like eleven days and you guys leave in four days and he won't even answer my calls any more. Apparently he has no desire to see me or spend time with me before tour."

Kevin perked up, "Do you really like him? Cause if you do that would be insane."

I loved Kevin, but there was no way I was going to talk to him about my feelings for Joe. I pressed my lips together and lied, "I just want to spend an equal amount of time with all of you. That's all. It's just been you or Nick lately."

Kevin scoffed, "It's not like you didn't spend most of the summer with Joe. Even when Nick and I were there, it was pretty obvious we were just a distraction from your Joe time."

For a moment I thought that I had done something to hurt or upset him. Had I made my friends feel like I didn't want to be around them? He must have seen the worry on my face because he nudged me and added, "Would it help if I straightened my hair when we hung out? Maybe you'd have more fun."

I frowned, "You're not funny. I'm serious."

"Well maybe he is too." Kevin muttered.

That caught me off guard. I blinked twice and sat in stunned silence, reviewing what Kevin had said about a hundred times.

"What?"

"Nothing. Oh, look at the time. I'm late. Need to catch up on my Joe time cause I have Joe time too you know. It's a brotherly thing. I'm not sure you would understand." Kevin rambled. He obviously thought he had said something he wasn't supposed to because his voice got sort of high and squeaky which it did when he lied or was nervous.

"Kevin. Wait." I scrambled to my feet trying to catch up to Kevin who was jogging towards the door. I caught up to him and he snapped around.

"Forget anything I said."

And with that he left.

Nick and I went golfing the next day. It was a quiet day. We didn't talk much but when we did all we chatted about was how to improve our swings. Needless to say that all my golden status as a golfer was trashed because I couldn't concentrate at all. Nick was surprised at how easy it was to beat me. He even asked if I had let him win, but I assured him that I never let anyone win; not even a JONAS member would get that sort of special treatment.

Two days before they left, I called Stella because I thought it was time to fess up and rid myself of all the guilt that had been building up all summer. Joe couldn't like me because he still had Stella, and if Stella was informed then maybe her jealous side would take over and she'd make an effort to get Joe back again. Thinking about it, I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach when I thought of them getting back together again. But I had to think about what was best for my friends.

While I was trying to convince myself that I was doing the right thing calling her, I almost missed the fact that my best friend had actually picked up the phone.

"Stella! I can't believe I got through!" I forced a laugh out, "God, I missed talking to you!"

"_Macy, it's been too long! How are you feeling starting senior year without me? Sorry I won't be there!_"

"It's no big deal. I might not have you around but I'll have my teams. I'm hoping that will keep me busy until the boys are back in January but until then, I have no idea how stable I'll be. I might have to carry a box of Kleenex at all times."

"_So how was your summer job? Did you get enough money to finally grab some front row tickets to JONAS? You know if you would have asked they'd have given them to you and you could have used the money to come visit me._"

I sighed, "Actually, I _am _going to use the money to go visit you. I don't think it's enough to cover the whole trip, but I can find another job or ask my mom for an early Christmas present."

"_Aww Mace! That means so much to me! Picking me over JONAS. What in the world happened over the summer? Did you get sick of them or what?_" Stella laughed.

I nervously paced around in my room, "Actually a lot happened over the summer."

"_Really? Spill, Misa. I will not stand another second not knowing what happened._" Stella ordered.

I gulped as I gathered the courage to explain every single detail that had happened. Just as I was about to begin to tell my story, another voice started to talk on Stella's end. It was a lower register voice that was unmistakably a man's.

"_Hold on Macy,_" Stella said. "_Giovanni Antella! What is the meaning of this?_"

I heard squeals and some unrecognizable chatting before Stella got back on the phone sounding like she was flustered and bright.

"_Macy before you tell me anything I have to tell you that I met someone. Oh my goodness, you were right about the wide selection of men here,_" Stella gushed. "_Men here are so different. It's like they're bred to be romantic. They make fairytale princes look like amateurs._"

"You met someone?" I asked weakly.

"_He's the guy from the restaurant. Remember? We've been inseparable since you told me to ask for his name. Macy I owe you for this. If Italy wasn't enough to make me happy, Gio is the icing on the cake. But I'll have to let you go. I'm sorry. I need to run. You can tell me about your summer next time._"

"Internship duties?" I asked.

Stella giggled, "_Oh no! I have a date with Gio and he just brought me flowers! Isn't that sweet?_"

I smiled, "Stella you're one lucky lady."

"_Aww, Mace. I hope to talk to you soon! Bye!_"

"Bye."

I hung up and threw myself onto my bed. This was a disaster. How did Joe know Stella had moved on so quickly? How did I not pick up on the fact that she had moved on? On those rare occasions that we did get to talk, she hardly ever mentioned Joe. She would ask how the boys were doing, how busy they were, and if they'd been keeping me company, but she never asked for Joe. I felt so stupid. It was like everyone was clearing a path so I could try something new with Joe and I was the only one not on board. I knew that it had to be to be a mistake; there was no way that he really wanted to be with me. Maybe I was just a rebound. Joe must have known about Giovanni and was using me to get rid of any feelings for Stella. Or worse, maybe he was using me to get at Stella.

Who was I kidding? I knew Joe better than that. He wasn't that shallow. Right?

---

**Will Macy get to redeem herself before the summer is over? Will Joe stay behind to prove that he really likes Macy? Will Nick bake? Stay tuned and be prepared for a roller coaster of drama.  
**

**Thoughts?  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Enjoy.  
**

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Little Loyalty

**Chapter NINE-Lost**

**---**

The school year started, and I felt so alone. I barely ever heard from Stella and the cheerful e-mails from Kevin and Nick just me think of the brother who wasn't speaking to me. I could have curled up and felt sorry for myself, but I didn't. I did what I had to do - I made friends. Regular friends. Friends that didn't have an eye for fashion or who weren't going to leave me to tour around the world playing sold out shows. Unfortunately, I never let my new friends get as close as I let those four people who had packed up and left me. The new friends were nice and everything, but no one could replace Stella and the boys.

Jennifer was the quiet one. She never spoke much in Biology but she was one heck of a tutor. I got an 'A' on my last test because she was a drill sergeant when it came to school. Kathy was my neighbor. She was two years younger than me but she packed a whole lot of wisdom for a sophomore. Lastly, there was Steven who made a great date whenever I needed someone to fill in to cover for my lack of a love life. He took me to Homecoming, which was actually fun when I let myself enjoy the moments.

The three of them were great, but it wasn't like having a close group of friends. They didn't really know each other, and our schedules didn't match up very well. That meant I still spent a lot of time at school hanging out with jocks from the various teams I was on, but I couldn't really talk to my teammates about important things. Fortunately, when I needed to, I could talk to my new friends almost like I would have talked to Stella, Nick, Kevin or Joe if they were around. And if I closed my eyes, everything seemed right for a second. It almost felt like things were normal.

But I didn't talk to them about extremely personal things because that was reserved exclusively for Stella, who was anxiously awaiting my arrival during the holidays. I couldn't believe I would have to make it through the entire semester before I could see her.

My new friends ease the burden but it was still quiet difficult. None of them knew why I had to excuse myself every time I saw a whistle or why I couldn't stand the sight of tambourines (although I never ran into many of them, really). Little things would make me think of Joe, and I would shut down. I had no one to talk to about what I was feeling; no one to help me deal with the memories and emotions.

Steven and I were eating hamburgers after our last football game when a memory of Joe took me out of my mindset. Even though physically I was sitting in a restaurant with Steven, in my mind I was back with Joe at his house watching a movie, his curly hair blocking some of my view.

"_How will I ever survive without you Joe?" I asked dramatically._

_Joe got on his __knees and faced me. He hovered a couple of inches above me and cocked his head to the side._

"_Like this," he said. He held my hand and brought it up to his mouth. I felt his warm breath on my knuckles. "Just hand on to the little moments, and you'll be fine until I come back."_

I shook my head and tried to listen to Steven who jabbered on about his winning touchdown that wrapped up the football season on a high note. I couldn't. My mind floated back to Joe. I wondered where he was at the moment. I could easily check up the world tour dates and estimate where he was but I purposely hadn't done anything related to JONAS since he had left.

"It's a shame you don't have a brother or anything. I'm sure the athletic thing runs in the family. He could have made a great football player, and maybe we could have at least made the prelims at playoffs," Steven sighed. "That would've been nice."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "I was on the football team two years ago and we _almost_ went to playoffs."

Steven shrugged it off, "Yeah but you quit to join lacrosse and spend the extra time at the batting cages. We lost all chances of going to the playoffs when you left. We should have begged you to come back."

I only vaguely heard the last part of his comment, my thoughts drifting back to the last time I had played baseball with the guys last summer.

"_Hey Mace how about you quit showing off how many balls you can hit over the fence so we can actually play some bal,." Nick whined. _

_I let my bat down, completely offended that Nick was whining about the three balls we had just lost because of my homeruns. I took off my helmet and handed it to Joe who was enjoying the sight of an agitated Nick._

"_Here," I said handing over my helmet to Joe. "Have your turn. I've been hogging the bat."_

_Joe cleared his throat and shook his head, "No, no, no. Keep on batting. Nick's just mad cause we're still in our first inning and we've been playing for two hours."_

_I raised my eyebrows, "What's the score?"_

"_Forty-seven to three," Joe shrugged. "Show them no mercy, slugger."_

_Joe winked at me and lightly pushed me towards home. I grinned to myself. He winked at me and that was enough to end our inning. __I couldn't hit the ball when my heart was pounding that fast._

"Can I have some of your fries?" Steven asked, pointing to my plate. I shoved the box of fries at him and drummed my fingers on the table impatiently. When would November end? I just needed for there to be some normalcy in my life and that meant Stella. She wouldn't believe who I'd been casually dating if I told her over the phone. May I add that Steven was one of my biggest crushes when I was in fourth grade.

"Hey what are you doing on Sunday? My family is having this huge cookout while the game's on. The Eagle's are playing the Patriots. We're big Eagles fans at my house." Steven casually said.

"Sorry," I bit my lip. "I have to study. Jennifer is helping me prepare for my Bio test on Monday."

"Oh well, how about the Red Sox's game on Tuesday night?" He asked.

I snorted and shook my head.

"What?" Steven made a face.

"_But it's not your birthday yet." I corrected. _

_Joe shrugged, "It's an early birthday party. It lands on a Tuesday this year and Tuesdays are pretty lame so I decided that my party should be on a Thursday."_

"_What makes Thursday so much better than Tuesday?"_

"_Because it is! Everyone knows Thursdays is just too cool to be a day of the week. See when I become a successful actor I'm going to change my name to Joe Thursday because every serious actor has a serious name and Thursday is definitely serious."_

"_Why is Thursday serious?" I asked._

"_Because it's my birthday!" Joe exclaimed._

"Um, nothing." I sighed, "How about a movie on Thursday? I have Titanic."

Steven rolled his eyes, "I've seen it so many times that if I see it once more, I'll considerate it a waste of my time. I have Scar Face. What if we see that?"

I frowned, thinking back to a certain brown-eyed boy who never complained about how many times I made him watch that movie, and sighed, "Sure, why not."

"Great! Can I have a sip of your drink?"

And Joe was right, hanging on to those moments with him, I survived the almost lonely semester. When my friends failed to keep my mind off my solitude those little insignificant moments became a big part of helping me cope. The remainder of school dragged on but the moment I was a day away from traveling to Italy to see Stella I found myself unable to sleep. I wasn't sure if I was nervous about traveling or worried about what I needed to finally tell my best friend.

On the plus side, the sleepless night meant that I slept through the entire plane ride to Italy. Before I knew it I was inhaling two steaming_I-have-no-idea-but-it's-so-good_ at the Little Italiano hot plates of . Stella and I returned to her place for one of our late night talks and gossiping sessions, finally able to talk about all the things we've missed out on in each other's lives. I didn't mention Joe yet. I thought I should prepare her for it since, no matter what, ex-boyfriend business is always sore news.

"Steven?" Stella raised her eyebrows, "NO way! I don't believe you."

"I have homecoming pictures for proof," I blushed. "He broke up with me three weeks ago 'cause I've _changed_."

Stella gasped, "What an idiot! You're the last person that would change for anything! For anyone!"

I shrugged, "I'm not so sure about that. I think I did change but only because I lost a big part of me. You have no idea how boring and regular life has been lately. I think even _I _got so boring and regular that Steven left me."

Stella gasped again, "No way! You are _not _boring! Steven is an idiot! He'll see how great you are once you're taken or, better yet, see you in some exquisite Italian fashion statement that scream '_Boys, I'm all yours_'! We could go shopping tomorrow! The only thing missing is the boys. I know how they always cheer you up. You should have gotten your plane ticket two weeks earlier. Gio and I had backstage passes to chat with them a bit. It felt like I hadn't seen them in ages."

I laughed, "Maybe because you _hadn't _seen them in months."

"You haven't either and you're doing fine. I'm actually proud of you! I can't believe you choose me over JONAS." Stella curled up beside me and gave me a hug; she dug her head back into her pillow and sighed.

"I did pick you over JONAS," I smiled to myself, pride swelling in me. She had no idea how true that statement was – that I had picked her over the boy of my dreams.

I felt Stella shift her weight around and then quietly settled herself near me. I could faintly see the outlined features of her face. For a moment, I thought she was going to say goodnight and try to fall asleep since it was past three in the morning already. I wasn't tired. I was still running on my Eastern Time zone.

"So when were you going to tell me about this thing between you and Joe?" Stella finally asked. My heart slowed down until it stopped. There's no way I could escape this, and I felt terrible for wanting to change the subject. I knew that I had to talk to her about it eventually; she deserved to know.

---

**So Joe left. Macy's alone. Both of her friends have clearly moved on. Wouldn't you like to know what will happen?  
**

**Thoughts?  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Alrighty, I was lucky enough to stumble upon some WiFi while out of town visiting the grand-folk (I just had to get a Peppermint Mocha. Yum). So far it's been a lovely holiday. And it's Christmas eve! I'm literally shaking in my boots to find out what I got this year. But what I'm really looking forward to is visiting my brothers in Dallas for New Years. Nick J, anyone?**

**Enjoy.  
**

---

Little Loyalty

**Chapter TEN- Forgiveness**

**---**

My heart finally started beating again, and I took a deep breath before answering. "I tried once." I admitted, "But that was when you told me about Giovanni and he showed up to take you on a date and…"

"And I hung up on you," she replied quietly. With a sigh she added, "Just so you know, Joe wasn't too happy with me when I saw him. He pretty much dressed me down for ditching you and not knowing about anything going on in your life because I was too busy talking about myself every time I called."

I sat stunned. I hadn't known Joe had noticed how one-sided my phone calls with Stella had been. Even though there was some truth to what he had told her and I knew he meant well, I wished he hadn't said anything. Stella and I needed to work through things on our own. "He shouldn't have said that," I whispered. "I wasn't upset with you. I just missed you."

"He cares about you, and he didn't want to see you hurt." Stella squinted at me in the darkness, "And from what I hear, you care about him too."

I winced, bracing myself for her anger. Instead, I heard another tired-sounding sigh.

"I'm not mad that you like him, Macy," she said. "It kinda bothered me at first, but this whole '_I'm sticking with Stella no matter what' _deal totally makes up for everything."

"I'm sorry." I muttered, still feeling like I had betrayed her. "Did Joe tell you?"

Stella laughed, "Of course he did, but only after I harassed him about all these tabloids that had popped up."

I sat up on my side of the bed and quickly turned on the lamp beside me, "What!?"

Stella slowly sat up as well, "I thought you'd have seen them since you track down anything related to JONAS in the news."

I shook my head, "I haven't done that since you and Joe were together! I thought I should respect that bubble of privacy. Then I got so used to not going on my website or googling JONAS…"

"Macy," Stella lightly pinched my side, "Only one tabloid linked you two together. The rest of them commented on how great Joe looked sun tanning by the pool. And it was obvious to me, your best friend, that it was the same pool you worked at. Lay back down. And could you turn off the light? It's hurting my eyes."

I bit my lip and reached for the lamp before I settled back into bed, "How could you be so _nonchalant _about this? I'm not sure what I'd do if you snatched a boy from me."

"You didn't snatch Joe from me," Stella corrected. "We both decided to end it."

"I know. But you wanted him back for a bit after you split," I pointed out. "And I know that in the back of your mind you still believe that when you get back, there's a chance you two will get back together."

"I missed him and I still miss him just like I miss Nick and Kevin," Stella cleared up. "But I promise, I'm not sitting around daydreaming about getting back with him like in some romantic comedy."

I gave her a disbelieving look, which she could obviously see even with the lights off because she said, "Well, maybe I did think about it when I first got here and was lonely, but that's all done now. I am really happy, Macy. It's not like I went looking for Gio. I stumbled into him and he just happened to catch me."

I smiled at the happiness I could hear in her voice when she talked about her boyfriend. Even when she was dating Joe, she never sounded like that. Even though they loved each other, there was always drama involved with them. I shook my head at how strange the world could be sometimes. "How did you meet him?"

"I stumbled into him and he caught me before I fell," Stella repeated. "It was a really busy day at the restaurant. But that's beside the point. What I want to know is if you like Joe?"

My best friend was sitting there asking how I felt about her ex. I felt uncomfortable which wasn't surprising. I think if I wasn't uncomfortable with the situation I'd start questioning my sanity.

"It's just a crush, Stella," I explained, "Nothing else."

At least that was the story I was sticking with. That was all I was even willing to admit to myself, even though I was pretty sure I was lying.

"When did you start to like him?" She asked looking amused. "I never thought you would have a crush on Joe. Nick maybe, but not Joe."

I bit my lip hard, "Promise you won't get mad and read something more into it when I tell you."

This time, Stella was the one who sat up and turn her lamp on.

"What happened when you stayed the night at the firehouse?" She demanded.

"Nothing!" I spat out, "I promise! I've never lied to you about that night!"

"But you have kept things from me!" Stella raised her voice, "Macy how long?"

Embarrassed, I looked away from her, "Maybe two months after you were official."

Stella's mouth slightly parted. She didn't say much after that. She slipped back into her side of the bed and turned off the lamp. She muttered her goodnights and pretended to be asleep. I felt horrible. I knew I had made the right decision by not being with Joe, by putting my friendship with Stella first, but somehow that didn't change the fact I'd betrayed my best friend's trust and tainted our relationship. Now that she knew, she needed to hear the whole truth. I sighed and looked back at Stella's side, beginning to talk to myself. I knew she was listening. There was no way she could have gone to sleep right away after I destroyed her faith in me.

"I couldn't help it," I explained. "The more time I spent around him, the more I realized what an amazing guy he was. But I never let myself think of him as anything other than a friend, never let myself get carried away. You wouldn't believe how guilty I felt just liking him; knowing that would be enough to have you tear my eyes out. If it makes you feel better, I will always choose you over JONAS. No matter what. And Joe isn't talking to me anymore. All the summer flirting amounted to a big fat nothing because I wanted it to be this way. I wanted to be your friend more than I wanted to date him."

As I waited for Stella to say something, my mind drifted back to the painful moment when I realized he was actually going to leave on tour without saying goodbye. Even then, when it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest, I didn't doubt that I was doing the right thing. I needed to be able to look at myself in the mirror and be proud of who I was, and I couldn't do that if I betrayed my best friend.

_I felt a violent shake that woke me up. I rubbed my eyes to shake my sleep off. My mom was speaking to me rapidly but I only caught a couple of words. She ushered me out of bed and out of my room. I caught a glimpse of the time; it was 3: 15 am. I didn't understand why I was rudely woken up at this hour until I saw two curly heads of hair sitting on my couch. _

_A dream._

_Of course it wasn't because if it was a dream there would have been three heads showing over the top of the couch;__ reality was a harsh world. Nick and Kevin came by at this ungodly hour to say goodbye before they left for their tour. Not that I wasn't delighted that they were so thoughtful to think of me but-_

"_Joe just got his driving privileges back," Nick explained, "He's still in the car and can't let go of the wheel."_

_I yawned, "It's really nice of you to think of me before you left."_

_Kevin cleared his throat, "Well it's hard not to get close to someone like you. We have to go. Sorry this is kinda short. We didn't want to leave without seeing you for one last time."_

_I gave him my best sleepy smile, "Thanks Kevin. Let me walk you to the door."_

_Nick mumbled something about tickets but I wasn't concentrating on him. Actually, when Kevin and Nick walked out all my attention was directed to Joe, the only person in this world who would drive in the middle of the night wearing bright red Ray Bans. I couldn't see where he was looking but it felt like he was burning holes through me. _

"_Bye Mace," Nick hugged me before he bounced off. "Just remember to call!"_

_Nick climbed in as Kevin began his speech on how much he'd miss puzzle-making with me. Even though I knew it was rude, I focused behind him on Nick talking to Joe. They both turned to look at me and Joe slowly shook his head. _

"_Bye Mace. Expect boxes of puzzles when I come back!" Kevin pulled me into a hug and waved goodbye. I stood there until they were gone. I didn't get a goodbye form Joe and a burning disappointment filled me. Last time I got to speak to him was by the pool and somehow it felt like maybe_ _we were never going to talk again._

"Macy, don't say things just because they're nice to hear," Stella mumbled. "The truth means so much more right now than sugar coating everything."

"What do you want me to say?" I question, "That I was planning on liking Joe and hurting my best friend? Stella, if I were out to get you I would be with Joe. I'm not. Do you want me to mention how much I like him and that I lived for those days I could be with him during the summer? Do you want to know how hard it was to push him away?"

"You know I could blame you for everything even if it's irrational." Stella spat.

"I know."

"But I won't." She sighed, "I'm not sure why because I think I have a right to be very mad at you."

"You do."

"And I don't deserve a great friend like you." Stella finished.

"You don't- wait what?" I knitted my brows together, "What are you talking about?"

"Well if you insist that you had me in mind as your best interest then I should trust you because we're friends, and you have never done anything in the past to make me doubt you," Stella explained. "And I can imagine how hard it would be if it was you with Gio and I was in your position. I don't think I'd be as strong as you were. And it can't be all your fault. It takes two to tango."

"Don't go easy on me," I groaned. "I rather have you yelling at me than understanding me."

"Well you might just have to suffer through my kindness," Stella laughed. "Besides, you didn't actually do anything. I can't really be mad at you for how you feel."

I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I had been worrying about telling Stella for months, and it had gone better than I had ever expected.

"So just out of curiosity, did you kiss him?"

I nearly choked on my air supply, "Are you crazy? Of course, I didn't! We were just hanging out! The thought never occurred to me."

Stella snorted, "Oh sure, like it's that hard wondering what it would be like to kiss Joe? Macy, I'm sure you given it a thought. One tiny thought."

"I'm going to sleep." I announced, "I'm suddenly sleepy."

Stella laughed harder, "Oh come on, Mace! Pucker up!"

"I'm _sleeping_." I said in my sing song voice.

Stella laughed herself to sleep while I gripped on to my sheets for dear life. What would it be like to kiss Joe? It couldn't be _that _great. I bet it'd be like kissing any ol' boy. So what if he could sing, had a great sense of humor, was absolutely gorgeous and could make my knees weak with a glance? None of that could predict what it would be like to kiss him. I bet I'd be disappointed…if I ever kissed him, which would never ever happen.

"Are you thinking about it?" Stella asked, giggling.

I screwed up my face, "Possibly."

"That's my Macy."

---

**Happy Holiday's to y'all. I hope everybody get's a chance to curl up by the fireside enjoying a cup of hot chocolate waiting for Santa to arrive. Just make sure you extinguish that fire before that time comes. Santa hates thrid degree burns. **

**Thoughts?  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry this took long to update. I've been a little busy. But there is nothing to fear, here's a new chapter fresh off the press. **

**Enjoy.**

---

Little Loyalty

**Chapter ELEVEN- Back Where He Belongs**

---

I arrived home just in time for Christmas and spent first few days home making hot chocolate for my relatives and helping Kathy make pies for the Annual Christmas Bake Sale downtown to benefit the community homeless shelter. My mom usually went there to buy a pumpkin pie to try and pass off as her own, even though it never worked. She was a horrible baker, but everyone played along to make her happy. Kathy and I spent the time baking chatting about neutral things like sports and school. Part of me wanted to talk to someone about all the thoughts swirling in my head, but everything with Joe and Stella was too personal to talk about with my new friends.

The rest of the Holidays were cheery and merry but not very fun. Despite being surrounded by family, I felt lonely. I really missed Stella and the boys. A week after New Year's I heard the Lucases were back in town, and it took everything I had to keep me from running to their firehouse and tackling them all. But I knew that they had been working non-stop, so I figured I'd give them some time and wait for them to call me. Still, it felt nice to know that they were back – like maybe my life would start to feel a little more normal now.

It wasn't until I bumped into Joe by the closed swimming pool that I realized that something was strange. I hadn't seen any of them since they got back so I expected my first encounter would be at school, not at my summer job. I was signing up for a refresher CPR classes for my last summer here before I head off to college when I saw Joe talking to my former boss.

"You don't understand I _need _this job!" Joe begged.

"I know who you are," my boss scoffed. "I doubt you need another job to make ends meet."

I narrowed my eyes and pretended to blend in with the wall.

"But-"

"Listen, we already have enough lifeguards here. We had one spot open and it's already taken. If you really want to take up a summer job here it would require you to take swimming certification test and CPR courses... It's not all fun and games."

Joe huffed, "I know it's not! Is there anything open? I could teach a swimming class!"

"We don't offer swimming classes." My boss crossed her arms.

"How about the snack bar?" Joe asked.

"We don't have one of those either."

Joe glanced around. "You should. People get hungry when they swim. I could open one for you."

He had a point, but why Joe would want to work here was beyond my understanding. I certainly wasn't planning on getting involved. My plan was to stay quiet and eavesdrop, but my boss finally noticed me and called me over to join their discussion. So much for blending in. I cringed and slowly made my way over.

"Joe, this is Macy Misa," she said, introducing us. She introduced us! The woman had worked with me for ten weeks last summer and apparently hadn't noticed all the time Joe had spent hanging out by the pool talking to me. Or the times he had given me a ride home. "She's one of our best lifeguards. If she thinks you're adequate enough to join the team, then I'll consider it."

Joe frowned and I pretended the wall behind him was fascinating.

"What what do you think?" My boss asked me, grinning.

But before I could say anything, Joe took a long look at me and mumbled, "Never mind. Sorry I bothered you."

And then he walked off, leaving my boss and I standing there, both obviously confused by what had just happened.

School started up again, and Joe still refused to talk to me, which made me confused and angry and sad. I had figured whatever was bothering him would blow over while they were on tour. I knew we might not get back to where we were before our big discussion last summer, but somehow I hadn't expected to lose him entirely. Just thinking about it made my stomach tie up in knots. Fortunately, I was so overwhelmed by school work that I hardly had time to worry about it. But sometimes when I would look up from my locker, I would catch Joe looking at me and I would feel my heart start to pound and the butterflies would begin to flutter around in my stomach. But as soon as he noticed me looking in his direction he would turn or walk away and reality would all come crashing down.

Joe Lucas wanted _nothing_ to do with me.

Except he kept watching me. I know it. One fine regular school day morning, I entered the computer lab and found Joe sitting in the corner of the room, completely immersed in whatever he was doing. When I peaked at his screen from across the room, I realized he was on _my _JONAS website. The colors and the format was unmistakably mine. Why would Joe care what I posted on my fansite?

It was then that I realized that I had lots of questions about Joe and no answers. Why was he trying to get a job as a lifeguard? Why did he feel it was necessary to stop being my friend? And did he miss me as much as I missed him?

But no matter how many questions I had, I couldn't dwell on Joe's strange actions for long because senior year was harder than I had expected it to be. I found myself stressing over classes, and sometimes I felt like I lived at the library. I had so many projects and tests that I was forced to drop some sports. For the first time, I actually had to pick a single sport instead of playing everything offered.

One night, I found myself sitting in the library rubbing my eyes over again and squinting at my book. Staring at the page wasn't causing the problem to suddenly make sense.

"_An aircraft is climbing at a 25 degree angle to the horizontal. Write the equation of the height of the airplane above the ground as a function of its distance from the airport on the ground… _Ugh…" I groaned, "If only Jennifer was good at Calculus…"

I took a look at my JONAS watch and saw it was nearing 7; it seriously felt more like midnight. I hated homework. I hated it. I sighed and tried to focus on my work when I heard someone clear their throat. I peered up to find Steven with his hands in his pockets. He cleared his throat again and waved at me.

"Hey Macy," he said softly. "Cal homework?"

I resisted the urge to bit my lip, "Yeah, I always procrastinate and leave the hardest classes for last. Not a good strategy but I can't bring myself to do it differently."

"I could help. I'm actually really good at math," Steven offered. "I just finished helping Joe out. He was stuck on the same problem you're on."

I sat up straight, "Joe's here?"

Steven nodded, "He's finishing up the last of his questions. It looks like you need my help too."

My eyes darted around the room in search of Joe. I found him hunched over a book a couple of bookshelves down from me. I couldn't believe I hadn't notice him before. A year ago my JONAS-senses would have been tingling the moment he entered the library. I wondered if maybe he had seen me. I still couldn't figure out if he was trying to avoid me or trying to be near me.

I sighed, "Sure, I would love your help, Steven. I can't get past this question and I've tried skipping over it but I can't figure out the rest of the homework."

Steven eagerly sat down and grabbed my pencil, "That's because you're not grasping the concept. Once I show you how to do this one, the rest will be a breeze. First, what I like to do I draw this out just as a visual aid and then work into the equation…"

I glanced over at Joe in time to see him snatch up his things in a hurry right before sending me a dirty look. I frowned. Was it illegal to ask for help too?

A couple of days later, I found myself at the firehouse hanging out with Kevin and Nick. I had missed them so much, and finally decided that just because Joe was being an idiot, didn't mean I couldn't be friends with his brothers. That's how I found myself struggling with Kevin through a thousand piece puzzle, while Nick baked us some cookies. I guess Nick was stressed out as well since Kevin had joyfully announced that his younger brother had been baking all day. I actually didn't even need him to tell me that, since it was evident from Kevin's bulging belly.

"Hey can you hand me all the blue ones?" Kevin asked.

I shrugged and pushed a pile of blue puzzle pices towards him, "What is it anyways? Can I see the picture?"

Kevin gasped, "Looking at the picture is like _cheating_!"

"But you got to look at it when you bought it!" I pointed out.

"I forgot what it looks like," Kevin replied. "Plus I bought three puzzles at the same time, and I'm not sure which one this is."

I rolled my eyes, "You're killing me here. I'm burning more neurons than I can make."

"Actually, there's only a limit to how much the brain can make neurons. It can only compensate so much until the damage is beyond control. Oh and there's no way you can replace the damage neurons. Once they're gone, they're gone forever. You can kiss that pleasant memory goodbye…" Nick proudly shared as he smirked at his own intelligence.

"So where's Joe?" I asked, trying to sound casual about it. "He's been out all day."

Kevin scoffed, "He's probably out harassing Steven."

Nick laughed and shook his head, "Um he's probably in the library. He spends most of his time there now."

I frowned. Why hadn't I seen him there then? I'd only seen him that one time. And why would he be harassing Steven? They'd always seemed to get along.

"I can't believe it! What kind of library doesn't have a book on girls? They have one about guys which is scary accurate," Joe yelled as he came in the front door and tossed his jacket to the floor. He jogged into the kitchen where I looked down at the pile of jumbled puzzle pieces to avoid seeing his reaction to me being there.

"Want a cookie Joe?" Kevin held a cookie up to his brother, who shook his head quickly and backed away.

"I need to use the…um, Stellavator…" Joe announced before he left.

Kevin and Nick both chuckled before they returned to their activities.

"So, Macy…" Kevin grinned, "How are you and Steven?"

I looked up at Nick who was doing a bad job of hiding a smile, "We're great…I think."

"You think?" Nick asked. "Are there any problems between you two?"

I stopped to think if there was something wrong between me and Steven.

"Oh well, last week he stepped on my foot and didn't apologize. He cracked my toe nail, wanna see?"

Kevin looked at Nick, "Any other problems? Relationship-wise?"

I made a face the moment I realized what they were trying to ask, "Oh, God no. Is that what you think? That I'm with Steven?"

"Well _we _don't think you are…" Nick corrected. "We're just asking. But _some _people might be under the impression that you have a boyfriend."

At that moment, Kevin happily announced, "Oh look I found another piece!"

Apparently Joe wasn't the only confusing Lucas. I was tired of hints and innuendo. I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted Joe to grow up and get over himself and go back to being my friend. I wanted to sit next to him on the couch, eating popcorn and watching _Titanic._

"Guys, what is going on?" I snapped. "And don't lie to me or tell me there's nothing happening. You are both horrible liars, and Joe's been…"

Kevin shushed me, and Nick covered my mouth with his hand. They stayed still trying to hear if there was any commotion upstairs. After two minutes of silence, I noticed Nick and Kevin nod at each other before Kevin grabbed Joe's keys and tossed them over to Nick. I was ushered out of the house and into Joe's car. I reached for the handle to escape but for some reason Joe had the child lock activated in his car. I jumped into the driver's seat to reach for the handle but Nick placed his weight against the door leaving me trapped. I pounded on the window but with no luck.

I slumped back into the passenger seat and the door finally opened.

I turned and said, "Nick that was-"

But it wasn't Nick. Joe glared at me and slipped in the driver's seat. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I heard the engine rev up and I looked around. We were backing out of the driveway and out into the street. Joe kept his jaw set firm and never took his eyes off the road. Where ever he was taking me, I wasn't sure I wanted to go.

---

**CLIFFHANGER! **

**Thoughts?**


	12. Chapter 12

**I hope this is to your liking. I don't want to reveal much but... well, I'll just let you read it. **

**Enjoy.**

---  
Little Loyalty  
**Chapter TWELVE- Much Better**  
---

The sun was setting quickly. All the buildings were steadily disappearing as we zoomed by indicating that we would soon be reaching the city limits. I took a peek of Joe. He was still concentrating on the road, and it didn't seem like he'd be the one to break the overwhelming silence.  
"Hi." I said pathetically. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Joe's head snapped around to look at me for a second before he looked back at the road. He still didn't say a word. I sank back into my seat and crossed my arms. So much for my failed attempt to make small talk. By the time Joe had pulled over at an abandoned gas station it had already gotten dark. As soon as he had turned off the engine, he got out, slamming the door behind him.

I sat at the edge of my seat and watched him peer into the small building. I tried to hold back a smile as Joe pounded on the window with his fist before he shoved his hands in his pockets and walking back over to the car. He leaned against the hood, his back facing me. As if I couldn't tell what he was up to. Ignoring me wasn't going to make me disappear.

I wondered how long he was going to let me sit there alone in his car, while he pouted like a little kid. So much for hospitality. Obviously if I wanted to have a real conversation (or get home before my curfew), I was going to have to take charge of the situation. I reached for my door handle to get out and groaned when I remembered his child proof car. I had to climb over to the driver's side again and escape from that door, stumbling out and scraping my knee in the process. It wasn't my most graceful moment. I was thankful for my jeans, which managed protect me somewhat when I landed on my hands and knees in the gravel.

"I'm okay!" I announced, holding my hands in the air. "I'm fine. I just got a little dirt on me but I'll survive…"

Joe snorted and shook his head. I bit my lip and walked over. He didn't pay much attention to me as I sat on his hood wondering what else I could say to make him talk.

"So how much better was Steven?" Joe asked.

"What?" I sputtered out. I know Nate and Jason had alluded to Joe being jealous, but I hadn't really believed them. Joe apparently wasn't very good a maneuvering the high school gossip network without Stella there to help if he thought I was dating Steven.

"Am I that easy to forget?" Joe bitterly chuckled. "But I know you might think there wasn't much to remember in the first place."

"You make my life a lot more difficult than it should be," I replied crossing my arms.

"Sorry." Joe apologized sarcastically. "Maybe I should disappear and then all your troubles would vanish too."

"Stop making it seem like you're the only one that suffered," I muttered. "The martyr thing doesn't suit you."

"Oh like you had a hard time without me." Joe scoffed.

Did he honestly think that I had had an easy time while they were gone? Did he think I didn't miss him so much that my chest physically ached when I thought about him?

"Joe, I have plenty of reasons why what we were doing was wrong. I'm sure you know why too." I shot back.

"What's wrong with a bit of flirting?" Joe threw his hands in the air.

"Because," I said wringed my hands together, trying not to let him see how much his description of our summer together hurt me. I wanted to be more than some girl he was flirting with to pass the time. "It wasn't just flirting to me."

Joe glared at me, "I know. What I don't know is why you would push me away."

"Stella-"

"-isn't here." Joe finished for me, "And I'm sure you know now that she's involved with someone else. So what made it so bad for us to have a tiny fling?"

I gritted my teeth, "You're insensitive! First off, no girl wants to be called a 'tiny fling', Joseph! Second, there are unwritten rules about dating your best friend's ex-boyfriend! I can't do that to Stella no matter how much I like you!"

"See? You like me! And I like you," he looked at me in obvious frustration. "And you know I don't think of you as a fling; I don't get this insane over little flings." Joe jumped off the hood and frantically paced around. "And you are driving me insane, Macy! I don't understand why you would make me feel like an idiot for putting myself out there when I knew we were on the same page! We like each other!" He ran a hand through his hair before turning and looking at me, "Macy, unwritten rules or not you can suppress what you feel because it's wrong."

I scoffed, "Really? Then what should I be doing? Betraying my best friend?"

"She doesn't even care, Macy. She has a boyfriend. And it's not just you, it's us," Joe corrected. "This is about what we should do."

"Fine," I said rolling my eyes. "What should we do?"

Joe pointed to the building, "First, we should probably find a way to fill up my empty gas tank. And then we should probably talk without all the drama." He gave me a small smile, "I'm starting to feel like we're stuck in one of the soap operas Nick likes to watch when he thinks no one's paying attention."

I giggled a little at the idea of serious Nick watching soaps before processing what Joe had just said. "We're stuck here?" I asked incredulously.

"Funny how metaphorical all this is." Joe snorted.

I held back from laughing because after all that he had put me through I wasn't quite ready to forgive him just because he was charming and handsome and occasionally sweet. Taking a deep breath, I asked the question that had been on my mind since he had entered the car, "So why did you avoid me?"

Joe's happiness quickly faded, "What?"  
"Why did you avoid me?" I repeated, "After that time at the pool, I hardly saw you."

"It just happened." Joe slowly said. "It hurt. Being around you hurt. Thinking about you hurt. It hurt more than it should have because I thought we could just give us a try." He paused a moment before adding sheepishly, "And I never thought you would turn down a chance to be with me."

I narrowed my eyes "Just cause I'm a fan?"

"Sorry." Joe muttered. "Nick pointed out that was pretty stupid of me. But I really do like you."

I turned a bright red. Having someone admit they like me always made me nervous, no matter who it was. Hearing it from Joe Lucas was overwhelming. My mind was whirling, and I was having trouble processing all the thoughts and emotions swirling around inside me. I was still hurt at how he has treated me, but being close to him again was so nice. And I found myself staring at his tousled hair wanting to smooth down the pieces that were out of place, wondering if they would be soft or stiff from all of the product he used. And that was a dangerous train of thought. Shaking my head, I finally said, "Joe, I like you too, but everything is so messed up and confusing right now." I saw him tense at my words. "But I really missed you. I know it isn't what you want, but can we try to be friends again?"

He was silent for a few minutes, and I found myself holding my breath, praying that he wouldn't say no. Finally, he nodded. "Friends, huh? I guess I can do that," he answered quietly.

I reached over and put my hand on his. "Thank you," I whispered.

He looked down at my hand on his, and there was something in his eyes that made my heart start to pound in my chest. Hoping to lighten the mood, I cleared my throat and asked, "So how are we going to get home?"

"I'll call Kevin." Joe simply stated. "But we can call him later. Right now, how about a little star gazing?"

"Joe, I'm freezing. It's the middle of January and I have a thin sweater," I complained. Not that I wouldn't mind cuddling up to Joe just to stare at the night sky but I really was cold. And the idea of snuggling with him was a little too appealing, which meant I should stay away.

"Fine get in the car," he said with a sigh. Then he jogged around and opened my door, "We can listen to some music."

I hopped off the hood and smiled at Joe. I climbed back into the car and soon enough Joe was right next to me shifting through radio stations for any song that would be suitable. He grew frustrated and finally asked me to pick a station that I liked. But I had a better idea; I knew what I wanted to do was probably a bad idea, but I couldn't help it. When I asked him, a playful smirk appeared on his face.

"You want me to sing?" Joe laughed. "I could pop in one of our CD's. I think I still have them in here."

"No, just you," I said.

Joe nodded and spoke more than sang his words, "We don't have time left to regret…"

I grinned, "Hold on."

"It will take more than common sense." His laugh echoed in his small car.

"Hold on." I hummed which turned into a giggle. While Joe continued singing, he slowly rested his head back and his voice turned into a whisper. I leaned over and placed my ear on his chest. I could hear his voice softly reverberating in his chest, the hollow space of his lungs, and a slight heart beat. He stopped singing and I looked up at him.

He shrugged, "Is this something that Stella would approve of?"

My mouth went dry as I realized how close I was to him. Sighing, I sat up, "Probably not."

Joe nodded, "Maybe we should call Kevin, now."

"Maybe."

"Maybe this friend idea of yours might be the best for now." Joe said quietly.

There was silence in the car as we both sat thinking about everything that had happened that night. It felt amazing to just be there sitting with him; I actually didn't mind the idea of being stuck there. Finally I couldn't help myself. I had to ask.

"What do you think will happen if we don't call Kevin?" I asked curiously.

"You could find out how incredibly irresistible I am," Joe said with a smirk. "Plus we'd probably both be grounded for the rest of our lives."

"We should call Kevin." I said quickly.

Joe laughed and took out his phone, "It's ringing."

---

**So, they're "friends". What do you think of this "friends" thing? Will it last? Will Stella come back and reclaim her man? HHAHAHA, only I know the answer...and well a couple of other people but that's not the point. The point is you should review and tell me what you think.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's the next update. **

**Enjoy.**

---  
Little Loyalty  
**Chapter THIRTEEN- V-Day**  
---

Joe and I made it home in one piece, and I was extremely proud of myself for holding my ground and staying friends with him. Admittedly, things didn't go back to how they had been this summer, but at least he wasn't avoiding me now and that's all I really cared about. When I finally had a chance to talk to Stella, I couldn't wait to tell her about my amazing self-restraint.

"Stella you're going to be proud of me," I bragged to my friend during our very short phone call. "Joe and I are staying friends. You don't have to worry about us at all."

"_Mace, you can't do that!_" Stella exclaimed. "_If you like Joe, then the rest doesn't matter anymore!_"

"What?"

"_I had a long talk with Gio. You have no idea how much I trust him. Anyways, he gave me some food for thought, and trust me when I say I have thought about what he said a lot over the past few weeks,_" Stella said seriously. "_He told me that if the happiness of others sours me, then it's time to find out where I stand._ _And that's when it hit me. Why should it bother me if you two like each other when I'm out of the picture? I have someone perfectly suited for me here. I'm building my own life thousand miles away. I shouldn't be trying to control what's happening in New Jersey. I'm not coming back for a long time, and if I get to start over with someone new, then so should Joe. Even if he picks my best friend…_"

I had been so sure that she was going to be relieved to know that Joe and I were going to stay just friends; I never expected her to tell me to date her ex. I sank slowly to the floor of my bedroom, trying to comprehend what Stella had just said. Even if he picks _me_... I shook my head and steadied myself against my bed.

"I know this might be off topic, but Stella are you in love?" I asked. She had to be. Not many guys had the power to change Stella's mind, especially about something emotional like her relationship with Joe. It had to be the magical four letter word.

"_Gio is really special and I feel like I might jinx it if I say it before he tells me_, Stella giggled. "_But yes, I might. And if I want to fully commit to him, then it's time to let go of everything, including Joe._ _I wish I could keep on talking but I have to go. I promise we'll talk soon, Mace." _

I closed my cell phone and gripped it tightly. It was like doors were slowly closing, and there was only one left for me to walk through. And yet, I couldn't seem to walk through it. I prayed that somehow Stella and Gio would fall apart so Joe could rush in and complete Stella's broken life. I could feel how rapidly things were changing in my favor and ironically, I couldn't picture myself in Joe's arms because I refused to see or even imagine a future with him. He was supposed to be with Stella.

---

By the time Valentine's Day came around, I was frustrated and confused. I couldn't figure out why no one else realized that Stella and Joe were supposed to be together. And I couldn't seem to get rid of the butterflies in my stomach every time he smiled at me. It was like I was being pulled in two different directions. But I had to admit, he was doing exactly what I had asked; he was being my friend. No flirting. No cuddling. Just friendly. And I was beginning to wonder if he had already gotten over me. I could never be so sure with Joe.

By the time February roll along, I feared Joe was going to use the romantic month to lure me in and somehow I expected him to. But day after day, he remained neutral and himself. It was no surprise that my Valentine's Day was going to be yet another lonesome holiday. Since I didn't have a Valentine, I decided to spend the evening at the library feverishly finishing homework a month before anything was due. It kept my mind off things. It was my new plan – keep myself so busy that I couldn't think about Joe and his gorgeous eyes and charming ways.

There was a point were I was reading my problems over and over again that I began to see numbers peel off the pages of my textbook and dance around my pencil. There was no other explanation other than I must have fallen asleep because one minute I was blinking back sleep staring at my book and the next I felt a pair of arms pulling me out of my chair and carrying me out of the library.

"Did you get her books Nick?"

"I got all of them."

"Is Kev still in the car?"

"Yeah, unless we took too long finding her. He might have taken off for his date."

I opened my eyes to a view of Joe's wonderfully sculpted chest underneath a thin white shirt. They quickly rushed out of the library and carefully tossed me in the back of Kevin's SUV.

"Took you long enough!" Kevin whined.

"Hey, I think she's awake!" Nick leaned towards me to get a better look.

Joe quickly pushed him away so he could look for himself, "Mace?"

A groan escaped me, "What time is it?"

"It's going to be eleven in a couple of minutes," Nick replied checking his watch.

Kevin scoffed, "And I need to get back to my date!"

The SUV lurched forward at a shocking speed which woke me up enough for me to catch Nick punching Kevin, signaling for him to slow down.

"Can't!" He snapped back, "Some of us actually have a chance at a love life, and I'm not going to ruin it just because Joe can't drive again."

A sharp right turn pushed me towards Joe who protectively wrapped his arm around my shoulder to steady me from Kevin's crazy driving.

"Again?" I whispered.

"Hey!" Joe shouted. "That officer was delusional; he claimed that I was doing 60 in a 40 zone. And mom and dad are so anal! It's my first ticket! It's not like I ran into a state trooper again!"

"It still means you're being irresponsible." Nick turned to look at Joe before he punched Kevin again, "Slow down."

"I'm sorry I can't!" Kevin glared at the road, "I told my date that I was going to the bathroom and a 10 minute bathroom break is a bit long even for Joe here."

"Hey!"

I'm not sure how fast Kevin was going but I could distinctly feel the auto change gears to keep up with Kevin's foot slammed on the gas. I'm not sure if I was still dreaming but I think I witnessed Kevin run a couple of red lights to which he claimed they were yellow. Suddenly screeching of tires woke me up and I quickly pulled away from Jow.

"We're here." Kevin announced, "Get out and don't forget her books!"

The doors opened up and I was helped out of the SUV. Nick hadn't even closed his door before Kevin took off. The three of us stood in the driveway in amazement. None of us spoke until Kevin was a mere red dot, speeding off into the distance.

"If he doesn't get a ticket," Joe started, "That's really unfair. He's like going 100!"

"Don't exaggerate." Nick rolled his eyes, "Come on Mace. I made some homemade marshmallow crisps in heart form."

"I'll call her mom." Joe said as he walked off while Nick led me inside the firehouse. Once I was seated comfortably at the kitchen table, chewing on Nick's treats I started to wonder what in the world had just happened.

"You know, I find it unbelievable you or Joe don't have a Valentine's date." I mumbled.

Nick smirked, "Well if it wasn't for our lonely night, we wouldn't have found you."

"About that...what's going on?" I asked.

Nick took a swig of his chocolate milk and wiped away a milk mustache with the sleeve of his shirt. "We took it upon ourselves to start a search party when your mom called wondering where you were. She'd been calling all your friends and none of them had heard from you. For future reference, not answering your phone sends your mom into a panic."

I gasped and reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I opened it to check, but the screen didn't light up like it usually did. My phone was dead. Way to go Macy.

"How did you find me?" I leaned on the back of the chair and hunched over.

"Joe had a gut feeling." Nick grinned, "Normally we would think he was crazy for suggesting the library, but we know whenever it comes to you Macy it's like he has a sixth sense. Even more so than with Stella."

My heart sped up as I thought over Nick's words. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that I wanted Joe and I to just be friends, I knew I really, really wanted him to still like me.

I took a deep breath before looking up at Nick and asking, "He still…"

"Yup," Nick confirmed. "He's been trying to act like you two are just friends because that's what you want, but Kevin and I know it's killing him. We wish you would just give him a chance."

I sat there thinking everything through. Why was it so hard to give in when everybody else was rooting for you? It seemed like all opposing threats were gone; I had even gotten Stella's approval, the one person I thought would never support the idea. While I was contemplating everything, Joe jumped into the seat next to me and proceeded to gobble down my marshmallow crisp before asking for another with his mouth full. Nick looked totally disgusted as he handed over another one and walked off. He raised his eyebrow at me as he headed up the stairs somehow telling me this was it.

"I love when Nick bakes," Joe mumbled. "It's like he captures everything that's good in this world in this tiny treat. You know he keeps a bottle of love in the pantry, right?"

I laughed, "Sure he does."

Joe gulped his treat down and raised his eyebrows, "Honest! Every week he takes out his heart and wrings all the love out of it just so he can make these. Why do you think Nick is so cold most of the time? He does it too often. See that's why my heart is always in place. I never take it out just to bake cookies. It's a waste of love. That's why he's still single."

"Quit lying Joe!" Nick shouted.

I tried to stifle my giggle so Nick wouldn't think I was laughing at him (he could be sensitive about things like that), but I couldn't help it. Joe grinned down at me, obviously proud that he had made me laugh.

"Thanks, Joe. I needed a laugh." I said. It was true. With all the stress of senior year and the drama with Joe and Stella, my life had been lacking fun and laughter recently.

"No problem. That's what I'm here for. I bring laughter into the world while Nick sucks the fun out of everything." Joe purposely yelled the last part loudly so Nick would be sure to hear.

Nick shouted back, "I can be fun!"

"Sure you can, bro," Joe shouted back, all the while shaking his head and making a goofy face to demonstrate he was just humoring his brother.

I shook my head and giggled again. How did I get so lucky? It seemed that whenever I needed him the most, Joe was there to cheer me up or take care of me. Which reminded me of something I had forgotten – I still hadn't thanked him for helping my mom. "Thank you for worrying about me and helping my mom out. I had no idea. I'm sorry I'm such a bother. I can't help it sometimes. Even when I'm trying not to be a bother I end up bothering someone."

Joe scoffed, "You're not a bother. I'm more than happy to help your mom out. It's either us or the police dragging you home, and I know you well enough to believe you'd rather have us find you."

I winced. "She was going to call the police?"

"I stopped her and promised I'd find you," Joe replied with a shrug. "And I did. If this singing thing doesn't work out, I could totally be a private eye. Or a spy."

And then of course he had to jump up and stand like James Bond with his gun in the opening credits. He looked so adorable standing next to me posing like Bond that I couldn't help myself. Without thinking I blurted out, "I talked to Stella a couple of days ago."

Joe gave me a questioning look and sat down abruptly in the seat next to me, "And?"

I looked at how curious Joe seemed that I chickened out again.

"Forget about it. I should go home now," I suggested before I remembered that I didn't have a ride home. Kevin was off on his date, and I was not going to ask my mom to pick me up in her current state of insanity. Before I could figure out how to escape, I felt Joe's hand on my arm.

"Don't run away, Mace. I think we need to talk," Joe insisted. "How about we go into the living room?"

I gulped and followed Joe. As we settled down on the couch, I realized that Joe assumed that I was going to talk about the friendship thing again.

Joe took a pillow and hugged it as if it was helping him cope with the standards I set up for this friendship, "Look, Stella told me how upset you were when you told her about me, and I totally get why you want to keep this _just-friends_ thing going. It's fine with me."

I couldn't help but frown a little that. Somehow I didn't want him to be fine with us just being friends. Joe obviously noticed my frown because all of a sudden he sounded worried.

"I haven't crossed any line have I? If I have I'm really sorry. I'm been on my best behavior around you." Joe chattered on.

"Joe, stop." I hung my head and sighed. "This isn't about this friend thing…well it kinda is. When I talked to Stella she told me it was fine that I had feelings for you and that she'd let go of the past between you two."

"She did?" He asked excitedly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why do you sound so excited that the love of your life has moved on?"

Joe scoffed, "Cause she was my past, and we've both moved on. Which everyone seems to understand but you."

"But that's what I'm trying to tell you…"

Joe cocked his head a little, "Wait are you…"

"Yes. I'm trying to say I give up," I admitted. "It's hard to go against the flow when every force is pushing me back."

"Or forward." Joe corrected.

"Or forward." I nodded.

"So you're giving up?" Joe questioned setting the pillow aside.

"Yeah."

"And that means we could…"

I shrugged, "If you think it's the right decision, Joe. It seems like it, but I'm just scared, I guess."

Joe smirked, "What's there to be scared of? I'm the nicest Joe you'll ever meet."

"It's all new to me." I hid my face with my hands, "I'm sorry. I've never really dated anyone, and I might be terrible at it."

Unexpectedly, I felt Joe's hand on mine and he held it up to his mouth like he had months ago. I had to remember to breathe because just having him touch me made me breathless. Now that everything was out in the open, now that I had caught a glimpse of what being with him would be like, there was no way I could back away from this. No matter how hard I had tried to avoid it, I really, really liked him. All my 'attempts' at pushing him away seemed silly. Giving in was possibly the best idea I'd ever had. Even if I might faint from lack of oxygen as Joe continued softly kissing the back of my hand.

"You'll be fine," he assured me.

Having him touch me like that obviously short-circuited my brain because all of a sudden I found myself asking, "Can I know why I found you at the pool trying to get a job there?"

Joe put our hands down, "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean. And you've been snooping around my JONAS fansite," I accused.

Joe grinned, "Oh! That _job_. Just wanted to see if I could secure a full summer with you by my side."

"But you weren't talking to me. How could you possibly think that I might want to be around you when you were avoiding _me_?"

"I promised you that _this _wasn't going to end, remember" Joe said playfully. "So I had to find some way to be near you."

"You didn't say that." I rolled my eyes. And then I remember the moment when I lied to him and told him he was wrong and that I didn't like him. I remembered him saying something… "Or…maybe you did." I said slowly, remembering the first time we discussed our feelings, "So what part of that promise told you that you had to act like such a jerk and ignore me before you left on tour?"

I watched him lean back on the couch and tug on my hand so I would scoot closer to him.

"I wanted to make you realized how much you'd miss me when I was gone."

"That's the worst idea I've ever heard." I shook my head.

"Well it sort of worked!" Joe shot back.

I sighed, "Alright. So how did you know that before summer we'd be on good terms?"

"I didn't." Joe admitted, "But even if we weren't on good terms I wouldn't want to waste this last summer not seeing you."

I felt my face flush, "I'm not sure how you always manage to charm the hell out of me."

"As long as it's you, I don't care who I charm." Joe smirked.

I took a breath, "Ok soo…what's next? More hand-holding? Movies? Dating?"

"You have to kiss me," Joe snorted as if it was the most obvious answer.

I'm not sure what kept me from not passing out. Kissing Joe Lucas. What kind of cruel and pleasant dream was I in?

"Kiss. You?" I repeated.

Joe nodded. I inhaled and nodded as well. When he was in range I closed my eyes and waited for my heart to explode.

"JOE, YOU OWE ME!" Kevin yelled.

My eyes snapped open and we both quickly backed away from each other.

"MY DATE POURED COFFEE ALL OVER ME WHEN I GOT BACK! DO YOU KNOW HOW COLD THAT COFFEE WAS? IT WAS COLD ENOUGH TO TELL ME HOW LONG SHE WAS THERE WAITING FOR ME!"

Nick ran in and pushed Kevin up the stairs as the oldest Lucas continued to shout out more threats at Joe. Nick turned a shade of red as he turned to informed me that my mom was outside, waiting to take me back home.

"Oh," I sighed. "I'll just get my books then."

Joe shoved his hands into his pockets, and he followed me around the kitchen as I gathered all my books.

"I can't believe my mom made it all the way over here without crashing. She gets pretty worked up sometimes," I explained, knowing that I was rambling to cover how disappointed I was that Kevin and my mom had both managed to interfere with our moment on the couch.

Joe laughed, "I'm shocked Kevin didn't run into your mom. That would have been a disaster."

I giggled at Joe's humor and doubled checked that I had gathered everything.

"That's it." I smiled.

Joe coughed, "Not quite. Look, I found one over here."

He ran over to the kitchen sink and squatted behind the kitchen island. Interested to see what book I had forgotten, I peeked over the island to see what Joe had found. He held an unrecognizable book in his hands. I circled around to reach Joe and ducked down with him to examine the book he had claimed was mine.

"Joe this is a cook boo-"

And that's when I felt his lips pressing on mine. I felt my arms weakening and the books I held in them slipped onto the floor. After a few pecks, he cradled my head in his hands before I let him deepen the kiss. I was glad I hadn't spent a lot of time imaging kissing Joe because any lame romantic scenario I would have come up with couldn't hold a candle to how dizzy he made me feel. It took me a couple of seconds to regain my normal thoughts.

"My mom's waiting." I said breathlessly, pulling a few centimeters away.

Joe pressed his forehead against mine, "I should have told her our search continues. It would have bought us more time."

"The good news is, now we have all the time in the world." I said with a grin.

I smiled even wider when he kissed my forehead and gathered my books for me. He walked me to my mom's truck and opened the door for me. "I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered in my ear. I glanced at my mother who was in hysterics at finding me alive and well. I grinned at Joe and nodded. He winked at me before saluting my mom. I waved goodbye as the car drove off, but my mind was still back there behind the kitchen island.

"You know how incredibly lucky you are to have those boys as your friends?" My mom asked, in the middle of her pre-grounding speech. "I could have called the cops to help me find you. I didn't buy you a cell phone so you could reject my calls, Macy! I'm glad those boys are so helpful and they care for you too."

I smiled, "I'm glad too, mom."

---

**SO, I'm not sure if I should end here or add one more chapter. But originaly this was... the end.  
**


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